This blog is an irreverent look my mid-life “emotional growth spurt.”
Before turning 50, raising 2 kids, singing in the choir, working full time took all my energies. While I cared on an abstract level about people outside my little suburban world, I didn’t really feel deeply or have the righteous anger others seemed to have about poverty or injustice.
However, with kids out of the house and a greater ability to separate my sense of self from my job (finally), I have developed an expanded capacity to connect and care about people: in my community and around the world. Rather than being tied up in guilty knots about my limited worldview, I use the blog to poke a little gentle fun at myself. It is my way of moving on.
I call my blog, “The Adventures of a Modern Day Church Lady,” because being part of a “progressively minded” church has been one of my greatest sources of inspiration for my growth spurt. Church takes me on adventures—intellectually, spiritually and literally—bringing me to places I would never go on my own, like Haiti, Sierra Leone and even jail. My worldview is ever expanding.
With this blog, I hope to turn the moniker “Church Lady” on its head—from Saturday Night Live’s better known Church Lady, Enid Strict, to the more vibrant liberally minded women I’ve come to know. The Modern Day Church Ladies I know try to make a difference in the world all while not spilling their red wine on the nice carpet.
I hope this blog is helpful to women in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond who find themselves on their own “emotional growth spurt.” Growth spurts can be awkward, remember those teenage years? Sometimes your body parts didn’t make sense together, your voice sounded funny and you really didn’t know what to do next. Sound familiar? But just like in adolescence, a little laughter goes a long way during mid-life reconfigurations. I hope my blog helps women feel a little less self-conscious and better able to enjoy their own personal mid-life journey, wherever it takes them.
About me
I have gone to church for as long as I can remember but don’t consider myself super religious. In fact, I tend to be a bit irreverent about my work, my religion and myself. As far as labels go, I have been a Congregationalist, Presbyterian, a Unitarian and a Methodist at different points in my life.
In my work life, I am passionate about health care communication and patient empowerment. I’ve worked in big pharma, advertising agencies and now have a communications consulting firm with a terrific business partner. Outside of work, my life is shared with a husband, two grown kids and two crazy Jack Russell Terriers. And of course, I get together with my friends and fellow church ladies, whenever possible!
