Middle Life Journey of Transformation - Jane's Mindful Musings

Jane Witherspoon is a Canadian expat adventurer, yoga instructor and passionate rambler who recently relocated from Panama to Denia, Spain.

What an amazing time of life we are experiencing. Once considered a time of crisis and invisibility for women, we are now taking control and changing the dialogue of what it means to be a women in her 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond.

How are we changing that dialogue? By reframing how we choose to think about it and embracing the opportunities this major shift is presenting to us.

My oldest daughter and fellow Sole Sister, Christina Pennington, just celebrated a pivotal birthday and wrote these poignant thoughts on the journey of our transformation in mid life.

“I was focusing on things that felt broken and challenging in my life, relationships and situations that were not bringing me joy. Then one day in late spring I decided I needed to invest in myself once again. I needed to get back to the root of who I was, who I wanted to be and how I wanted to show up in the world. I started making small changes, little ripples through the current of my life but I was starting to feel a difference. Then I decided I needed to make a splash.”

This facilitated our Juan de Fuca Trail trip along the wild West Coast of Vancouver Island, Canada (another blog post). I was honored that she reached out to me to accompany her on the big “splash” in her journey of transformation. Besides being a time of bonding as a mother and daughter, we both experienced so many mid life revelations during our four day adventure.

With Christina, at the beginning of her mid life journey, she revelled in the physical and mental challenge. Her revelations included moments of “laughter and swearing, being happy, scared, lost and exhausted and pushed to the extreme.” The pure joy and sense of accomplishment I witnessed as she exited the trail was such a joy to behold. I am so proud of her and her journey.

I on the other hand, deep into mid life, had many humbling revelations. I had to make the difficult decision to end my journey before reaching the end of the trail due to an old knee injury that made itself known.

Having always priding myself on being fit, strong and agile, this was a difficult situation to accept. Due to the kindness of a stranger, who gave me one of her hiking poles, I was able to move forward one more day than I would have been able to otherwise.

I hit an aging milestone and after some internal turmoil and self reflections, have embraced the idea that in future backpacking adventures or whenever needed, I will fully use whatever rambling gear is available to make my journey safe and enjoyable.

For me this will include hiking poles and a knee brace. I want to continue doing what I love for many years to come. As my BFF, Jill Thomas, says “I want to walk the world with you, so let’s keep pole dancing”.

And so my Sole Sisters, as you ramble out through your week, remember these final words from my daughter. “I have graduated into the next chapter of my life and I feel so thankful and ready to grow into the next version of myself.”

“Do the things everyone!

Live your life and keep putting

one foot in front of the other

through the deep dark parts on

your trail of life. The feeling when

you come out the other side is worth

it. I promise. Much love to all!.” - Christina Pennington

Midlife is a time for soul searching,

self-awareness and creating the

next chapter in the story of your life.

It's about engaging in life fully,

embracing the unknown and having