Why You Should Listen to Me (Fair Question)
Hurricane destroyed my home. COVID destroyed my body. Eviction loomed. I was 66 with $37. This is what I did next.
How did a woman who spent 17 years married to a Christian minister, ran off to New York City to marry a concert pianist for a decade, then returned home to marry another Christian minister end up here—writing about reclaiming your life at 70?
And more importantly: Why should you listen to anything I have to say?
Fair questions. I ask them myself sometimes.
Here’s the short answer: Because I’ve lost everything twice and rebuilt from nothing both times.
A few years ago, I had no choice but to start over.
Hurricane Laura destroyed my home—my parents’ home that I’d bought after they died. COVID put me flat on my back for three months. I landed in a new city with $37 in my bank account, facing eviction, too sick to stand, wondering how the hell I’d survive.
At 66 years old, the reality hit hard: I have to work my ass off again?
Yes, I had my pity party. But rent doesn’t care about pity parties, and I didn’t have the luxury of staying stuck.
So I got up.
Your rock bottom might look different than mine. Maybe it’s quieter. Maybe it’s a marriage that ended, a job you lost, a version of yourself you can’t find anymore. The specifics don’t matter. The rebuild does.
I started with walking meditations—not because I wanted to be spiritual, but because sitting still with that much anxiety was unbearable.
I’d walk and talk my meditations out loud. Eventually I added music. My steps fell into rhythm. My breath steadied.
Other practices emerged.
I’d stand by my desk and shake my body for 60 seconds to release the dense, heavy energy that tried to pull me under.
And then I did something terrifying: I sat with myself in complete stillness.
No phone. No distractions. No running.
I listened to my mind without reacting. I listened to my soul.
That’s when everything shifted.
In those moments of stillness, my confidence started to rebuild. My courage returned. And a dream emerged—simple, clear, undeniable:
Make art. Sell it. Do it on my terms.
No art fairs. No festivals. No begging galleries to show my work.
Just me, my paintings, and the people who felt pulled to them.
Now I live that dream in full, vibrant color.
At 70, I’m painting every day. Writing for 4,200 readers. Selling my work. Supporting myself entirely through my art and my words.
It’s not fantasy. It’s real.
And the steps I took to get here? You can take them too.
No matter where you are right now. No matter how stuck you feel. No matter how many times you’ve started over or how old you think you are to begin again.
I see you. I understand you. I’ve been exactly where you are.
And I’m here to tell you: You absolutely can create magic in your life and live your dreams in full, living color.
Let’s take that journey together.
In the weeks ahead, I’ll share the practices that saved me—the brain drain writing, the breath work, the daily rituals that pulled me from survival mode to sanctuary. You’ll meet Clara, the 68-year-old woman in my novella who’s reclaiming her life one breath at a time. And you’ll hear stories from my Survival Series—the raw, unfiltered truth about what it takes to rise when everything falls.
Stay with me. It gets good.
P.S. If you’re wondering whether you’re ‘too old’ to start over, or whether it’s ‘too late’ to reclaim your dreams—I was 66 when I started this chapter. I’m 70 now. And I’ve never been more alive. Just saying.
If you’re already a paid subscriber—thank you. You’re the reason this work exists. You’ll find Clara waiting for you this week. She’s about to discover something in an old recipe file that changes everything.
Know a woman who needs this?
Your sister. Your best friend. The woman who’s always taking care of everyone else.
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P.S.S. Loved this? Hit the heart. It tells Substack to show this to more women who need it. And it makes me ridiculously happy.
What a stunning arc, Monica. The thing that lands for me in all of this is how your turning point wasn’t the hurricane, the illness, or the $37. It was the stillness. That moment where you stopped running from yourself and the courage started to rebuild from the inside out.
Most people never realize that the rebuild begins long before the circumstances change. It starts in those quiet minutes where you relearn how to listen. Your story makes that feel possible again, no matter the age or the starting point.
Such an inspiration. It's interesting to read about your walking meditations. I do walking meditations all the time now. I “walk aloud.” It’s my new “journaling” time. I’m loving it so much. 🥰