Maven Questionnaire: call for participants!
Spotlight on WSG readers starting with me!
Welcome to the Maven Questionnaire.
A quiet, reflective place to hear from women who are doing something extraordinary in their lives after 50.
It’s a space to find inspiration for anyone who finds themselves asking “What’s next?”
Each month I invite my friends, neighbors and readers — that’s you — to take part in answering the Maven Questionnaire.
Why?
Because the only way I’m navigating this next season of life with a sense of humor and cheer is by having friends like you walking alongside me. Your insights give me something every time.
Kim Druker Stockwell
I’m a mom, wife, painter and writer who lives in Boston, MA. I have a studio in SOWA, Boston for painting and a blog Women’s Survival Guide where I look to inspire midlife women with stories from other midlife women and my own personal essays on life with (semi-) adult kids.
I love to laugh and my Instagram (KimDStockwellStudio and Womenssurvivalguide) is crammed with comedians and old British TV humor.
Recently, a student conducting a survey stopped me on the street. His single question was: “What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?” and my answer was, without a pause, “my family.” That told me a lot about myself!
My Answers to the Maven Questionnaire
What is the most surprising part of being in this stage of life?
I had always heard how awful menopause and aging was. Not from my mom but from society and how they treat women no longer in the breeding pool. I’ve been surprised at how fun it is!
I don’t have to worry about all the things one worries about when younger from my career to getting married and having kids and getting the kids through school and into college etc etc etc.
There was an undercurrent of competition with all the life milestones that just doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over. Now it’s about, what’s next? What do I/we want to do with the time we have?
What’s one new thing you’re trying to embrace in mid-life?
My sudden freedom to do things during the week…there is no weekday really. I want to stop lurking in my house on a weekday evening and get out there and see a play, a band, try something. I am slow to act but it is a goal.
If you could give yourself a piece of advice 20 years ago, what would it be and why?
Chill out. Remember what I said above? The undercurrent of competition? It’s all going to work out. If you have a good head on your shoulders, a good relationship with your kids, spouse, parents, stop worrying about the school they go to, the team they make or don’t make. And, drink a little less wine. It’s fun, but affects your mood the next day.
What’s something that our generation had access to that you’d like to bring back?
The end of the evening. The TV went off, the phones didn’t ring because it was rude to call after a certain hour and wake the whole house. No one could bully anyone 24 hours a day. When you went home you were safe (assuming you were safe at home).
If the next 20 years of your life had a theme, what would it be and why?
Experiment! Try new things! But finish what you start!
I've started an evolution in the skincare industry as an outsider - no big task or anything! 😂😂
What are you doing these days? The word “extraordinary” in the question in my post is a word that isn’t meant to dissuade you from telling me what you’re doing that’s different from what you were doing before
Phew that’s wordy.