I'm done.

I heard a thud and I knew it was a bird that had hit the window. We had a lot of glass around our house and we backed onto a reserve.

I didn't know though, that it was one of the doves that had been nesting outside my clinic through the week with its mate.

I looked down at the bird that had died instantly and picked it up. It was the most feminine thing I'd ever seen.

And immediately I got the message. I was killing my femininity.

That was 18 years ago.

Often for a woman, there can be a turning point when she says, ‘I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.’

This may mean the end of a relationship. Or, it may not be that at all. It may be that she has just made a decision, or more likely, the decision actually rises up inside her, 'No more' of whatever it is that she has given over too much of - energy, time, work, love, her body. And thus she begins a new journey of finding her way back. Her way back 'home' to herself. Finding her inner compass again.

When I was 45, this turning point was a total collapse physically, mentally, and emotionally. And this very special bird was part of my story that day.

I share about this turning point and many other things in this conversation including gathering in those parts of ourselves that we’ve let go of or perhaps disowned up til midlife and how these threads of our past can begin to inform the next stage of our life, called ‘The Gathering’ with the wonderful Kylie Patchett, in her fantastic podcast for Midlife Mavens, Wild (+ finally Fcking) Free: Real and Raw Stories of Midlife Magic.

Listen in to this episode at HERE

And for the animated video version of us riffing together, here it is on Youtube (Apologies for my poor video quality as my webcam stopped working just before the interview)

If you're a woman and you feel inspired by our conversation, come along to Womantime Retreat in August. Love to see you there!

The next Making Love Retreat is fully booked with a Waitlist for May. Space is still available for October. Read more here.