I never thought I’d say this.

But I’ve been saying it a whole lot lately and am experiencing the giddiest feeling of freedom every time I do.

“That ship has sailed.”

To be the next big fashion designer? That ship has sailed.

To be the next social media celebrity? That ship has sailed.

To be a public figure in my field? That ship has sailed.

You may hear some resignation in that but I promise you, that is not what is happening.

Instead, it’s allowing me to assess what I CAN do, what IS within reach. Instead of for the stars, I’m shooting for, like, a tree branch. And a tree branch? Well, that is something I can grab.

This is huge for someone for whom longing was her first emotional language. (And why yes, I did Google, “Is longing an emotion?”)

Longing has been both the juice to inspire action and the mud in which I’m stuck. And let’s be honest, the heir of my longing has mostly been the stars: something (or someone) way out of reach. And as a result of the overwhelming action that would be required to reach the stars, I’ve been more stuck in my life than not.

Lowering the bar and allowing that the ship has indeed sailed on some starry dreams has surprisingly opened up a world of options. A few of those options look like: going back to school, eyeing a few master’s programs, seriously entertaining the thought of working for someone other than myself for like the second or third time in my life and knowing that it could only happen sometime in the very unknown future and being okay with that.

Jumping for the tree branch instead of the stars is not very sexy or subversive, it’s not even that risky and yet, it feels exhilarating.

I guess this is late bloomin’ 52.

Hey, do you want in on conversations like this? You should join The Midlife Solution community. We’re talking about goals and ambition and external validation and detachment and whole lot of other topics just like this. I hope to see you there.

Also, I’m having a big ol sale on all of the garments in my Marketplace (including this amazing cat robe/jacket) to make space for FALL. Ah, Fall. Hope you snag something you’ve been eyeing!

xoxo

PS. Daily cutting, stitching and making is a practice and practice is the ultimate unsexy tree branch. In case you were wondering.