The Hard Pivot
When the old roles fall away, that’s when the real story begins — the one you choose for yourself.
This is Day 11 of our 30-Day Reclamation Project — where we reclaim ourselves, our dreams, and the power to choose what comes next.
We’ve all been someone’s something.
But one day, the roles fall away.
And when those roles fade — retirement, empty nests, a quieter house — it can feel as though we’re fading too.
Every woman I know over sixty has faced that question:
Who am I to myself?
I’ve come to believe that question isn’t frightening — it’s sacred.
It marks the moment our real life begins.
We’ve spent a lifetime honoring what our mothers and grandmothers endured, but that story is complete.
They fought for survival; we get to build meaning.
They endured; we get to choose expansion.
We are here.
Now.
And here, we have choices.
At sixty-eight, I had to make one — make it or lose it.
Fear said give up; faith said stay.
I chose faith.
I had to choose between believing in myself or accepting the illusion that my art career had hit a dead end.
My daughter shouted, “Go get a real job, Mom!”
But I didn’t.
I stuck it out.
I did the work.
Slowly, things began to turn.
Then came the call — my series Faces, portraits of women like us, had been invited to show at the famed Torpedo Factory in Washington,DC.
I still pinch myself over that one.
Those became the planks of my new life — long walks, meditation, pages of raw journaling.
The old gratitude lists felt hollow; I needed truth, not cheerleading.
Some days the truth came in tears, but it always came.
And I wasn’t alone.
Every Wednesday, I met with my life coach — a woman who challenged every belief I’d ever held.
Once, when I told her I was done trying, she said, “No, you’re just done shrinking.”
She never wavered in her belief in me.
That season changed everything.
Keep reading as a paid subscriber to see how I turned that season into the tools that changed everything — The Joy Ledger™ and Re-Foundation.
If you’ve ever felt ready to begin again, this is your invitation to join us inside the full post — complete with my 40-second Joy Ledger video and step-by-step guidance to start your own fourth-quarter comeback.