Support for women ripening into their second bite of life.

Dear Reader,

I want to tell you what I did with my overwhelm this past weekend.

(Because it was glorious!!)

I spent two hours with a small group of women — plus some chalk pastels, torn open paper grocery sacks, scissors and glue — making a mess and letting the overwhelm say what it needed to say.

Three things came through. I think at least one of them is for you.

Everyone is overwhelmed right now.

Some of us have a parent in hospice. Others are finishing up a dissertation. Some of us opened our phones this morning and felt the familiar sick thud of another headline in our chest. We are all carrying something. You're not alone in this messy middle — I hope that brings you some relief.

You're allowed to stop building the case.

We spend so much energy convincing ourselves that what we feel is legitimate. That it's bad enough to count. That we're not just weak. You can skip that part. Your overwhelm is information, not a personality flaw.

Nourishment doesn't have to be emergency medicine.

We reach for the practices that restore us — the walk in the woods, the slowed down meal, the knitting — when we're already well past gone. What if those happened today? Before anything breaks. Not as reward. Because you're worth tending to, and that's reason enough.

The world is a lot right now.

Press reply. Tell me what's up for you around overwhelm.

(On Sunday I'll be back with a blessing and a question — your Sunday Spark. Watch for it.)

To your second bite,

Brooke

DEPARTMENT OF BEAUTY & MAGIC

To your second bite,

Brooke

I'm Brooke Hofsess—Midlife Midwife for women living their messy, holy second bite of life. Through coaching, creativity, and ritual, I guide women back to the parts of themselves they were taught to tamp down—their wild, their creativity, their intuition. The women I work with are hungry for depth, meaning, and the relief of not doing life alone anymore.

You'll find me in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where I live with my husband Dustin, our daughter Thea, two clever border collies, and an ever-growing collection of handmade mugs for Egyptian Licorice Mint tea.