Reinventing Ourselves
This week I sent flowers to one of my sisters. The reason I did so was to congratulate her on the acquisition of her own store. She’d worked as manager in this store for many years, and when the owners decided to sell, my sister bought it. It’s a huge step to take in one’s mid-fifties, but she was ready to take on the challenge and reinvent herself as a business owner.
Thinking about her new venture prompted��me to ponder the subject��of reinvention, a topic I ruminate on��quite frequently. What is it that pushes a fifty-something woman��to take a new direction in in life or to jump into something different and challenging?
Sometimes circumstances direct that decision. In my sister’s case, the fact that the owners were selling the business induced her to consider the idea of taking it over, and she had the��gumption act on the idea. Ten years ago��I went through��a relocation to a different country and it stimulated a reinvention of��myself as an author. Sometimes, though, it’s not external circumstances but an inner voice that challenges a person to make changes. I have another sister who, in her fifties, became a certified pastry chef, and recently she opened her own pastry shop. Another sister (yes, I have lots of sisters–lucky me!) went to teacher’s college in her fifties and completely changed careers.
For me as an author, reinvention is a��compelling topic to explore in fiction; indeed, it’s the subject��that inspires the stories I write. In my novel,��The Unraveling of Abby Settel��,��Abby was forced to make changes and redefine herself��because of a relocation. In��Breathing Space, Lydia makes a decision��that drastically changes everything about her life and causes her to view herself in a completely different light. My current project is a story��about women compelled to reinvent themselves in Bermuda.
Certainly, life is about change, and we all constantly adjust and adapt to whatever gets thrown at us. But actively choosing to take��on new challenges��requires courage��and��motivation. My sisters��have both, and they inspire me with their pluck.
