Dear Rose # 60- Bouncing Back: Finding Hope, Resilience, and Joy in Midlife

Rose is an amalgam of us - women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who are looking for somewhere they are seen, heard and listened to.

Dear Rose,

It started this morning when I opened my eyes, noticed soft light shining from around my bedroom blind, and realised my empty calendar had allowed me to wake up without the aid of an alarm.

I noticed it again when I found myself dancing to my own rendition of "Pump Up the Jam" while I cleaned the shower, wearing just a towel and a shower cap.

I felt it when my old boss asked me where I was living now, and he said, “Good things happen to good people,” when I explained how lucky I’d been to be rescued by my yoga student renting out this beautiful home.

And by the time I gently coached a sales assistant through the clunky process of using brand-new software to sell me a candle, leaving us both smiling at each other with genuine warmth, it was feeling familiar again.

Hope, resilience, bouncing back, and feeling genuine joy. It’s returning here that makes everything else worthwhile.

Love, Em xx