This newsletter is all about Revolution. I know that sounds a bit dramatic but a revolution in how women 50+ feel about themselves, changing the story told about us from “decline” to “opportunity and optimism” is what NOON is all about.
Revolution was the theme of this week’s NOON Circles. I hosted 2 – one online and one in Central London. In both I asked the same thing:
What’s the Revolution you are bringing into your life this year?
What would you do if you weren’t afraid and allowed yourself to dream of what your life could be, your heart’s desire?
When I first tried to do this, I was lying in a hot bath. I asked myself what I truly wanted. But before my heart could even begin to voice its needs, my head was shutting it down saying: Don’t be ridiculous, it will never happen…. But the whole point of Revolution is to think the unthinkable in order to bring it into being.
- The Silent Revolution: Why midlife women are walking out on their careers
- Why we’re only in the foothills of the gender revolution
- Midlife reskilling is a revolution we need
And right now, Revolution is in the air.
Now, I’m not going to go all woowoo on you, but it is noticeable that astrologically, we are back in a similar alignment of planets as at the times of the French and American Revolutions. The Age of Aquarius (oh how I loved Hair the Musical) dawned last week with the first new moon of the new epoch.
This era is about systemic change, about marginalised voices coming to the forefront, about youth, equality, innovation, harmony and hope. It’s also the Lunar New Year, celebrated big-time by the Chinese: This is now the year of the snake. The snake is another symbol of transformation, shedding old skins.
And it’s Celtic Imbolc, when seeds are planted – the very beginning of spring. A revolutionary moment indeed!
Just how powerful our NOON Revolution can be was brought home to me by the incredible reaction to my podcast about midlife renewal with Davina McCall. The comments from viewers and listeners brought a tear to my eye, I felt so humbled and touched.
“What a fabulous interview. Just what I needed to hear today when I feel so low.”
“Age is just a number, not a mindset…I am in my 70s and want to say, Just keep opening new doors.”
How the Revolution spreads
On Thursday, in my Revolutionary week, I got a message from Salima Saxton, a friend of a friend with whom I went for a walk during the pandemic, shortly after I got made redundant.
Salima was also having a shocker. Her husband was an entrepreneur having a tricky time because of Covid and was paralysed by stress. Their carefully curated “successful” life in a posh bit of North London surrounded by pop stars and celebs had fallen apart. Things had to change – radically. She had just moved the entire family back to her childhood village in Suffolk; defeated by the life she’d thought she wanted.
We both cried a lot.
I was in freefall, constantly anxious about what would come next, but I told her about the germ of the plans for NOON, the Queenager newsletter, the book Much More to Come. I also encouraged her to think big about her next steps. (She was an actress by trade and had an unpublished novel on her computer.)
We didn’t speak for ages, but then my phone pinged on Thursday. She had sent me a video of her speaking her truth about what success really means.
It’s had 500k hits on Instagram and been shared by everyone from Dawn French to The Moth. The video describes how her new life in Suffolk is so much richer in the ways that really matter.
How she’s glad to have shucked off the friends who only liked her “because of my postcode”. How her husband is happy, her kids are thriving and she feels “not fearful all the time, or stressed, or knackered or constantly trying to keep with the Joneses”, but “content like my city cat who now revels in being a countryside warrior.”
If you’ve got 10 minutes, do watch this – it made me cry!
We can change our lives…and others’
Sometimes, we don’t know the effect our truth, authentically spoken, has – at least in the moment.
Salina told me, “Meeting you on that walk was so timely: You were so honest and real and raw – you looked me in the eye and understood and said that is your story! I didn’t see at the time but in the years since, I realised that was spot-on.”
And now that journey is the basis of a new novel she’s writing: Daisy Singh Has a Problem!
Just think how many people that Salima is impacting – first with her Instagram video and soon with her book. It all feels so NOON – the conversations we have and the way we support each other leads to real change.
Like I said: Revolution.
A story from our Circles
One standout story from Circles last week was from a woman who told us how she had sold her business and rather than retiring was now working as a personal trainer and a waitress in Borough Market (in a restaurant serving locally sourced, seasonal food…run by two women!).
Being a businesswoman had not brought her joy.
We’re often told the kind of success we should aspire to. But this woman glowed as she explained how her Queenager years have been about tuning into what she loves and what makes her happy…and sod what the rest of the world thinks!
Maybe you need a quiet Revolution
It’s important to remember that a Revolution can be quiet as well as noisy. Such as learning to do familiar things in a different way.
One Queenager with cancer told me she’s doing this by changing the dynamics with her mother. “I only see my mother when I am feeling boundaried enough and strong enough. After many years of pain, I have learnt to put my own wellbeing first.” Those small changes can be massive.
Just coming to the NOON Circle and sharing is a Revolutionary act: A commitment to making the rest of your life as brilliant as the first. (Let’s say it together: there’s Much More to Come!)
.My own Revolution this year is about bringing in more calm and support (something I talked about in my January newsletter). It’s incredibly exciting being on this NOON/Queenager snowball which is gathering momentum fast after my year of writing and promoting my book, contributing to newspapers and doing corporate keynotes. But it can also be exhausting.
This year I am trying to focus on what I love; and that is being with you wonderful Queenagers.
How NOON helps with your Revolution
NOON is here to help you with your Revolution – whether that’s making new friends, having fun and accessing JOY through our Circles, events, retreats, walks and once-in-a-lifetime trip/retreats. (Psst: There are still a few slots for Uzbekistan and Wasing so check them out.)
Getting SUPPORT from our incredible expert. Your Revolution could mean shifting into your next chapter: upping your impact, finding your purpose, becoming an entrepreneur, volunteering, working out what you are going to do with the next 40 to 50 years of what for many of us will be the 100-year life!
The expert for our next event – Sandra Davis, the country’s top divorce lawyer – will be sharing what mediators and divorce coaches do and how they could help you. It’s happening on 12 February at 18:30 – sign up here). And we’re about to announce more expert events so stay tuned.
And then of course there is STUFF: Check out our Queenager merchandise, t-shirts and mugs and browse our Queenagers Directory, with services by Queenagers, for Queenagers.
Is it time to take the plunge?
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while and have not taken the plunge – what are you waiting for? With our online Book Club, Circles, events, journaling – your personal Queenager Revolution starts today!
When you read this I will be taking some of my own Revolutionary medicine and be strolling along the Dart or the south Devon coast with some mates, having some rest and relaxation and hopefully doing some pretty chilly swimming – bon weekend and see you next week!
Xxxx
Eleanor
