Within moments, eagerness moved through me

I was sitting quietly with my soul, simply expressing satisfaction. What moved through me next, I didn't summon — and it hasn't left since.

Following the Breadcrumbs

This week, something I wrote landed harder than I expected — and it’s changing what I’m going to write about next.

The piece was called I Thought Satisfaction Was the Goal. I Was Wrong. In it, I shared eight small shifts that have quietly changed my life over the past year. I thought the eight shifts themselves would be the takeaway. Instead, almost every reader who wrote back asked the same question: how did you actually get there?

So starting this Tuesday, I’m slowing down to walk through each shift, one at a time, in detail. Not as advice. As honest account. The first one may be the most important — how I freed myself from obligation, and why that single change opened doors I didn’t know existed.

Here’s the link to I Thought Satisfaction Was the Goal. I Was Wrong.

I thought satisfaction was the goal. I was wrong.

The same day I wrote a note that apparently a lot of peope decided that they either agreed and felt they finally had permission to be eager about their lives.

There’s something else I want to tell you, because it connects directly to all of this.

I was sitting quietly with my soul recently, simply expressing satisfaction with my life. Within moments, something else moved through me. Something I hadn’t expected and didn’t summon.

Eagerness.

It arrived that fast. And it hasn’t left since. The same day I wrote a note that apparently a lot of peope decided that they either agreed and felt they finally had permission to be eager about their lives

I am gloriously eager for each day now. I actually wake up curious about how the day will unfold, what little nugget or breadcrumb might be waiting for me before I’ve even had my coffee. That feeling didn’t exist for me a year ago. It’s new. And I think it’s the clearest evidence I have that this whole process of following breadcrumbs actually works.

That’s the big news. Here’s the rest of the week, in case you missed it.

One of the advantages of this stage of life is that I no longer feel compelled to have a five-year plan or a carefully orchestrated roadmap. Most of what’s meaningful in my life arrived as a small nudge I almost dismissed. This week was no exception — a conversation led to a question, a question led to an article, and the article led to hundreds of women recognizing themselves in it.

I also turned my camera on with a cup of coffee in hand and just talked, no script. It felt less like content and more like a conversation, and I think I’m going to do it more often for paid subscribers.

Here’s the maiden “ Moments with Monica “, Titled I TOOK A BATH !

( Click on the image the link for the video will pop up, then click on that link)

In the studio, a painting I’m working on kept revealing itself one small piece at a time. Nothing forced. Nothing planned. The next step simply appeared once I got quiet enough to notice it. It feels like I’m creating a lusch secret garden of grapes and wisteria…. fingers crossed I don’t mees it up! This piece is four feet tall, it will take a few months to complete.

I’m starting to think that’s the whole pattern: Eagerness + curiosity! Not certainty. Not a five-year plan. Just a breadcrumb, followed by another.

Thank you for walking alongside me — whether you’re reading from a quiet apartment, a busy household, or somewhere halfway across the world.

We together are looking out for the breadcrumbs. Those tiny little offerings that gently point us toward reclaiming a dream, reinventing ourselves at this stage, or simply reinvigorating what retirement could actually feel like.

None of us are really looking for a map.

We’re looking for the next breadcrumb. Together.

And by doing so we are re-defining retirement!

One more thing before you go.

Starting this week, I’m adding something new for paid subscribers — short video messages of inspiration, sprinkled through the week. Not scripted. Not polished. Just me, a cup of coffee, and whatever breadcrumb caught my attention that morning. Think of it as a little nudge showing up in your inbox between the bigger pieces.

And for a limited time, I’m offering 20% off an annual membership — because I want the women who need this room to be able to walk through the door.

The Breakthrough Circle. The Tuesday gatherings. The eight-shifts series starting now. The video messages. All of it.

Become a paid member — 20% off annual membership

And if something in this piece made you pause, nod, or feel a little less alone — please give it a heart before you go. That one small tap tells the algorithm this conversation matters. It puts these words in front of another woman who needs to hear them today. She's out there. Help me find her.