What's In a Name?
Navigating the middle phase of life is challenging, but don't call it a crisis.
Several weeks ago, I wrote about how I and, by extension, this Substack needed a fresh start. My life has changed so dramatically over the past few years, that I have almost nothing in common with the past me who started this newsletter. I wanted a new name to fit my changed (and changing) reality. So I decided to consult the oracle of the modern internet, ChatGPT.
Everyone else is outsourcing their job duties to AI, so why not give it a try? If this thing can write a cover letter capable of convincing a potential future employer that I want to work for a mid-size hospital system drafting vendor contracts, what can’t it do?
Okay, I admit it, I did not actually expect that to work. I have as much faith in new technologies as a senior citizen using an iPhone 11 to access a QR code menu at a restaurant. But something about the name ‘Balancing Act’ just felt right.
This middle phase of life feels like a tightrope walk between the past and the future. Self-reflection has made me restless. The nagging doubts about what might have gone awry are far louder than the applause for what went right.
Like so many women, I am constantly searching for equilibrium between who I was, who I am, and who I still want to become. My brain is forever focused on finding a path forward that feels as authentic and fulfilling as it did in my younger years. But how do I blaze a new trail while keeping up with my job, my daughter, my partner, my family, and the laundry?
Seriously though, where did all this laundry come from?
In the best of times, middle life is a search for balance. A master class in plate spinning. But some days it feels like I’m trying to keep the plates in the air while doing a fire walk across hot coals. And it can be a little much.
As I rebrand and rebuild, what will this Substack be? Well, it probably won’t be a place where you find easy answers. But I hope it will be a safe place where we can ask the right questions and find a bit of community.
here goes nothing, Abra
