And so to begin

So, here I am , at 60. So different from how I thought I would be at this age when I was younger.

I want to tell you about my life but it's so difficult not to fall into a mire of cliches. Things like - it's been tough, so many ups and downs, working through.... they seem so annoying. But I suppose that's why cliches exist - because they often fit the bill. That's why classic novels are classics - because they hit the mark. And their truths last. Take Middlemarch, by George Elliot. A marathon read, but 3 relationships that are so relatable today... an ambitious beauty, fancies and entraps a handsome fellow with principles, but then is so disappointed when his principles don't bring her the trappings of wealth and entry into society she desires. A devoted religious wife, in love with the self-absorbed rhetoric of a frustrated, mean spirited narcissist, who eventually realises that he was (he dies!) all stuff and nonsense. A wholesome young woman, falls for a wild young man, rash and impulsive, lacking in sense and wisdom, but who is basically a decent and loving person who addresses his failings and comes back to her. And, with an act we all find so difficult, but which can be so healing, asks for forgiveness. I doubt there's any woman out there who couldn't think of folk in her life who resonate with these examples.

I don't know about you, but I find reading these old novels such a comfort in realising that everything we feel: joy, pain, disappointment, sadness, confusion, excitement, tragedy, and a host of other feelings you could add, have really hardly changed throughout the ages.

So, I plan to just be completely honest. If this blog does nothing else, it will at least be cathartic for me, but if, by the smallest chance, it should help or encourage another woman, I would be delighted. I make no apology for reaching out to other women... we have had a tough gig for a long time. And I can only speak from a woman's perspective.