I'm so glad you're here!

I’m 71, retired from paying work, passionate and purposeful, happily average. Over the years I’ve developed habits and practices that keep me growing in health, strength, creativity, and joy in every day. I seek wholeness and serenity and ways to contribute to the wellbeing of others.

I’m completely ordinary—no special talents or achievements, no advanced degrees, no career to speak of. I put energy and effort into what I do and, like everyone, I have some successes and many failures. The successes are fun for a moment, but the failures are my richest source for learning. 

Born in the exact center of the Baby Boom, I grew up in a middle-class family in Phoenix, which in the 1960s was basically a suburb of the Midwest. I stayed there through my university years, got my undergraduate degree (my only degree, so far), immediately got married and moved to the Pacific Northwest. After that marriage ended, I moved to Washington, D.C., in 1980 and still live in suburban Maryland. I remarried and brought into the world two amazing, millennial kids.

I’ve worked for numerous nonprofits and one corporation. I’ve been a wage earner full time and part time, a volunteer, and a homeschooling mom. My main job now is being the mom, handler, and trainer of a spunky miniature Australian shepherd named Tjikko (pronounced chico).

I’m also a writer, musician, athlete, hiker, and teacher, active in my church and community. I love gardens (but not gardening), long walks (in nice weather), reading, writing, all the vegetables (except okra), and coffee. Tjikko is my master teacher and spiritual director.

In my sixties I searched for books and blogs by women like me, for companionship and maybe a few tips on how I can progress toward my goals and live more aligned with my values. Back then, a decade ago, all I could find were blogs about how to be physically beautiful and wear great clothes, things that don’t interest me. My idea of a beautiful person is one who is living their best life now and strives continually to live better into the future.

I write in order to discover more of who I am and what’s important to me, to make meaning of my life, and to help my kids make meaning of theirs. If any of this resonates with you, I hope you will find encouragement here for your own journey of living your best life at any age—knowing that we can begin again at any time.