Are you in the midst of a midlife transition, grappling with big questions about purpose, change, and self-discovery?

For this week’s episode, cohost Debbie Sorensen celebrates her 50th birthday with a discussion on the transformative period of midlife with her friend, Dr. Meg McKelvie. 

A period rich with psychological shifts, existential questions, and challenges in finding deeper meaning, they get into acceptance and commitment therapy, emotional, psychical and cognitive changes, ways to overcome people-pleasing habits, and much much more. 

With practical exercises and writing practices, this episode is a gift to anyone navigating midlife transitions and relationships, offering insight, reflection, and a path toward deeper understanding and fulfilling connections. We hope you enjoy this heartfelt and poignant conversation! 

Listen and Learn:

• Opportunities that midlife brings for deeper understanding and transformation


• Confronting body changes and the aging process 


• How your relationships can become deeper in midlife; letting go of surface-level bonds and embracing genuine honesty and shared experiences


• The myth of the midlife crisis and how, contrary to what stereotypes lead us to believe, it frequently involves a sharp internal existential shift rather than a dramatic upheaval


• Living with unanswered questions and learning to sit with the discomfort of uncertainty


• Ways you can cultivate a personal space that nurtures self-reflection and self-sufficiency


• The lessons that regret can teach us


• The value of sitting with challenging emotions such as anger and grief, and how these feelings can provide critical insights into your life 


• The difference between body neutrality and body positivity and how stepping back from the internal debate about your body can lead to a more peaceful relationship with yourself

Resources:

• 
  Meg’s website: https://www.drmegmckelvie.com/
  


• 
  LInk to the “Soul-Searching Questions” handout on Meg’s website and Debbie’s website. 
  


• More writing resources from Meg and Debbie: 


• Meg’s writing workshops: https://www.drmegmckelvie.com/workshopsgroups
  


• Debbie’s Instagram for journaling prompts: https://www.instagram.com/drdebbiesorensen/
  


• Debbie’s Guided Journaling substack: https://guidedjournaling.substack.com/ 


• 345. Writing for Personal Growth with Maureen Murdock


• A Substack essay Debbie wrote on her 50th birthday


• 
  A commentary on the Surgeon General’s recent advisory on parental stress, by co-hosts Debbie and Emily, and former co-host Yael Schonburn! 


• 
  Books mentioned in the episode: 


• 
  Finding Meaning In the Second Half of Life: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781592402076 
  


• 
  The Heroine's Journey: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9781611808308

Related episodes: 

• 199. Belonging From the Inside Out with Meg McKelvie


• 345. Writing for Personal Growth with Maureen Murdock


• 315. Hot & Bothered: Menopause with Jancee Dunn 


• 291. Finding Freedom From Regret with Robert Leahy 


• 257. The Gift of Being Ordinary with Ron Siegel


• 242. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management with Oliver Burkeman


• 351. You Only Die Once with Jodi Wellman


• 274. Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood with Satya Doyle Byock


• 
  138. Exploring Existence and Purpose: Existentialism with Robyn Walser 


• 116. Building a Meaningful, Values-based Life with Jenna LeJeune


• 
  285. What Do You Want Out of Life? Values Fulfillment Theory with Valerie Tiberius 

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