Oh the joy of starting a blog, somewhere I can share all those crazy ideas and thoughts that seem to burble just below the surface, somewhere they can break through & spill over cascading out over the page to take a form of their own.

How did I never know for all those years how cathartic the experience of blogging could be. That anyone else might be interested in my silly ramblings still evades me, but even if it’s just for me to look back & archive ideas, moments & achievements in my life, what a wonderful thing!

I have bared my soul over the last few years, been stripped down to my essential self & found that I am a lot stronger & resilient than I ever thought possible. I have found out the meaning of true friendship and as well as nurturing existing relationships have made some wonderful new friends on this journey. I have been inspired & encouraged by some amazing people, & as I have shared my challenges, experiences & insights with others, I can only pray that I have helped a few others along the way to realise that anyone can aspire to an amazing life at any age, it’s never too late! My life now is more full in every way than I ever could have thought possible. Believe me when I say my late 50’s really are my golden years. I was scared to turn 40, kept thinking that I didn’t want to be middle aged, well now I’m turning 60 next year and what a celebration that will be!

I have found my wonderful creative self, she was hidden for so many years, so well that I never even knew she existed. She had to have been there somewhere underneath the girl, the daughter, the friend, the student, the banker, the wife, the mother, the organiser…….. she was buried under all those layers until she nearly suffocated, thank god she survived.

-Helen