The Forty Files

This is where the unpolished stories live. The ones you write at midnight when the house is quiet and you’re finally honest with yourself. The ones about loving your kids ferociously, missing who you used to be, marriage, intimacy, friendships, starting over, and wondering if it’s too late (it’s not).

This is a space for women in motion—especially the ones at midlife who were told they should be settled by now but feel anything but. Here, vulnerability isn’t a buzzword. It’s the cost of admission. We tell the truth about the ache, the joy, the rage, the hope, and the strange magic of becoming more yourself in your forties.

You’ll find personal essays about motherhood, marriage, intimacy, friendships, identity, ambition, fandom, teaching, longing, and reinvention. Some stories are soft. Some are sharp. Some might crack you open a little because they cracked me first.

There’s no fixing here. No perfecting. Just honest reflection, earned resilience, and the quiet belief that sharing our stories makes the load lighter. This isn’t about empowerment as a slogan—it’s empowerment as survival, humor, grit, and grace.

Stay awhile. Read slowly. Feel something.
Your story belongs here too.