This is the Age of Enlightenment. (Right?)
Every birthday, I ask myself the same question:
Will this be the year I finally start to figure things out?
I’ve made it to the end of my fifties, and the answer remains the same – not yet. But I’m getting a bit more impatient and a bit more focused on the effort. Hence, this little project of mine.
The original Age of Enlightenment, which spanned the 18th century and some years on either side, was (broadly speaking) about the idea that if we observe the world, ask questions, and try to reason our way through, our lives will be greatly improved. If you’re interested in digging into that Age of Enlightenment, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers an excellent article.
This Age of Enlightenment, however, is about me, several years past the initial shock of an empty nest, pausing to wonder at the world, ask some questions, and have a laugh or two along the way. Trying to figure things out – one thing at a time. I hope you’ll join me, read along, and share the journey.
Fifty-four certainly wasn’t the year I figured things out, but it was a good start. It was the year I set aside my legal career after almost thirty years, the year the younger of our two sons left home, and the year my husband and I moved our empty nest from New Jersey to Singapore for his job. As a “trailing spouse” with no set agenda, a keen sense of curiosity, and an amazingly bad sense of direction, I finally had time to put my thoughts into words. By the time we returned to the U.S. (in 2020), I’d begun publishing my essays and culture/travel pieces in print and online. These days, in addition to writing this Substack, I’m publishing essays, like this one in the Gotham Razor. Best of all, I’m working on a Big, Exciting Project – a collection of essays about my expat experience in Singapore. Stay tuned for details!
While our return journey initially brought us home to New Jersey, we moved to California just nine months later. A pretty big change for a lifelong East Coaster, but another chance to ask questions, get lost, and keep writing. Unfamiliar territory is, for me, the most fruitful ground of all.
Why should you subscribe?
Because you’re a woman of a certain age. Because the kids are gone and things are way too quiet. Because your partner’s sitting on the other end of the couch, and you’ve just realized he chews his ice way too loudly. Or, perhaps, because you find yourself paying attention to birds for the first time in your life. Because, way past the age of three, you find yourself asking as many questions as a three-year-old. Because you appreciate that humor can be a shortcut to the truth, the long way around it, or a great way to swallow it – like a spoonful of sugar. (And if you get that last reference, you’re probably in my demographic.)
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There are so many possibilities — like all of us, this is a work in progress.
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