Who I am

My name is Karen and I am a glorious 53 year old.

I am a mom of four grown up children and a granny to 3 little people. I love making friends, being creative, going out, having adventures and spending time with the people that I love.

My intention with this blog is to connect with like-minded people who want fun and adventure in their lives but sometimes feel that they are 'too old' for certain things. I want to talk to people who have the same romantic problems that teenagers do and who feel ridiculous about them because we should 'act our age' - whatever that means. I want to indulge people who are feeling bored and maybe useless due to empty nest syndrome or having children who have just finished school and who no longer have to run around to school functions, dancing, sports etc. I'd like to try ease the panic that you feel when you look in the mirror and see yourself ageing and have no clue how to stop it.

I am there! I have been through and continue to go through all the ups and downs of being 50 something from starting menopause to jumping out of an aeroplane (which, come to thing of it, could be related to the insanity of menopause). I can't say that I have the answers but I can say that I have experience, as we all do, and it would be really great to speak to people in similar situations. We are not alone!

I would like to create a space where we can talk and rant and make plans, make friends, get ideas and get support. Where we can arrange adventures, learn new skills and know that when we are happy or hurting there is someone out there who has done it, been through it, can support us through whatever it is. We can share our experiences and our wants and needs and perhaps find ways to achieve what has often eluded us

I am completely new to this and hope that we can grow something inspiring and motivating together.

In the past 3 years I have done motorcycle trips with my partner, gone river rafting, had a helicoptor ride, gone skydiving, walked across the Mozambique, South African border on foot, to name a few.

I have felt bored and exhilerated and liberated and useless often in quick succession. I have felt loved, rejected, cared for and lost. I have become closer to certain of my children and drifted from another on\y to have that reversed a few seconds later.

I have felt secure and insecure. I have acted like a 53 year old and then become a 16 year old. I have felt old and then thought, 'but I still feel like I'm 21'. I have acted like an adult but then discovered that I don't know what that means. Like when they allow you to take a new baby home from the hospital with absolutely no experience. What were they thinking?

But ulitmately I have come to value life, love and  people and I want to share my experiences and thoughts and encourage you to feel free to share yours. You never know who you could inspire along the way.

I would like to add that even though this is called My Gloroius 50 and may resonate with women, it is open to all ages and genders because you are never too experienced to not be able to learn form those younger and you are never too mature to take advice from those older than yourself.

I have found, speaking to other women around the same age as myself, that there are still things that we want to do but feel that we would be out of place doing so. For example my friends and I still want to go dancing, meet at a jazz club for dinner or go to a club to let our hair down. We don't want to listen to 80's or 70's or any old music. We actually like the new stuff.  We have driven with teenagers in our cars and have grown to like their music. We need a space to pursue these types of things and hopefully we can discover this together.

So, I will post things like everyday stuff - funny stories, new adventures, things that you can do around JHB and things to do when you're bored and in a rut. I hope to create something real and tangible.

Lets navigate and explore the possibtilities of 50-something together!

Left Behind

Ever feel like you're being left behind .....

Kids are moving on, friends are emigrating, retiring, starting new adventures?

I have been feeling a little lost the past few months. My four adult kids are all working or studying, have lives of their own and businesses and interests. Sometimes it's even difficult to get us all together at the same time.

Family time for me is so important. It is so rich and rewarding. I love to have the house full of my family, their wives, fiances, boyfriends, girlfriends, grandchildren. It is loud and busy and overwhelming but it is a privilege to love and be loved by so many amazing people.

Its scary though when you have spent your life involved with and doing things for all the little people in your life, that suddenly you feel as if they possibly don't need you anymore. Here is when I have to sit and take a reality check. They don't need you as they did when they were little but they need you for different, sometimes more difficult things.

My children need me. I'm a mom and a grandmother, a driver, a doctor, a psychologist, a career guidance counselor and so much more. This does not go away over the years. It may lessen in some instances and become greater in others. There is an ebb and flow but it is always there. I thank God that even though I don't see my children as often as I would like to, we still do make an effort to have family dinners, braais, games evenings and getaways. And we always make time for birthdays, Mother's Days, Christmas and Easter. I babysit, I give advice, I get angry, we argue, we make up. We are family.

I have recently however started panicking about my friends.

People have reached certain stages in their lives and feel that it's time for a change. I have two friends emigrating, one leaving for the Cape, one just moving to another area and I am unreasonably afraid. You build a lifetime cultivating a circle of friends and then it seems to be disintegrating! This is a very dramatic statement and not entirely true. The friendship group is as good as ever but, when you are the one left behind, it can be quite distressing. Life is so hectic and busy as it is to get together very often but how do you continue to do so when half of you are in another country?  This is something I have to think about.....

If anyone has similar anxieties or experiences or any advice to share, please leave a comment.

Ps. I will start including pictures soon, just have to ask my kids how 😌.