From Calen to clarity….

Earlier this week I headed out on the open road to pick up my sister who was visiting, from WA.

While I was driving to the pickup spot in Calen, my kids and I were chatting and my daughter casually asked.

“So… when is this midlife crisis going to end?”

I nearly swerved.

“I’m sorry — my what now?”

She laughed. “Sorry I mean the fuel crisis, Mum.”

And just like that, I went from mildly offended… to deeply amused.

Because somewhere between rising fuel prices and rising age, the word crisis helps us define what we are living through.

And like any calamity we find ourselves in most of the time the only way out is through them. To keep moving forward.

But here’s the part that made me laugh later…

I drive a hybrid.

Which, when I think about it, feels like the most accurate metaphor for this stage of life I am living.

Because midlife isn’t always about running on empty (though it feels like I live dangerously close to empty).

It’s about learning to run differently.

Some days you’re full power.

Some days you’re quieter, more efficient, drawing on something deeper.

You don’t waste energy the way you used to.

You don’t accelerate for no reason.

You start paying attention to what fuels you — and what doesn’t.

And maybe that’s what people are calling a “midlife crisis.”

But from where I’m sitting, hands on the wheel, somewhere between where I have been and where I am going.

It doesn’t always feel like a crisis, sometimes it feels crazy then calm and then BONKERS!

So many women my age, are starting to see midlife as the exciting new chapter, if we can get our hormones in check, sleep regulated and peace found.

I am from the girl power generation, the peace sign swinging elder millennial, trying to reclaim the power of girlhood and translate it for my midlife.

But how do we do that? Maybe care less? Or perhaps decide which cares actually fuel you.

That’s the beauty of midlife, we have the chance to keep travelling on the road and find out what makes our heart sing and relish in a moment of crisis, because that is where we always find clarity.