Rome: The City That Refuses Reinvention
Turning Fifty and the Reinvention Trap
Rome taught me that fifty is not the new anything. It is fifty.
If you are a fifty-something woman, stay with me a moment. Perhaps you'll recognize yourself in this. And if you cannot, lend me your ear anyway. There's something about turning fifty that made me stop and reassess life. I felt caught not only between lives, but also between desires. This is how I see it. We spent years managing homes, careers, relationships, children, parents, schedules and the emotional temperature of entire families. Now, just as some of those responsibilities begin to shift and change, we are handed a new assignment: reinvent yourself, or so we are repeatedly told.
The Language of Reinvention
Women in their fifties are surrounded by the language of reinvention. We're told fifty is not the end. Fifty is the new forty, or better yet the new thirty. This is our time. The children are older. For some, the marriage ended. We know ourselves better. We have survived enough to stop asking for permission. We have accumulated experience, resilience and stories. Now we are supposed to do something with all of it.
Call it what you will. A ...
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