Liberate Yourself.

In my opinion, none of us are free until all of us are free. Therefore, liberation is gonna be a collective project. But it really does start at home, with yourself. One way in which I find myself having to fight for my personal freedom is when it comes to aging. My transition into middle age has been been pretty rough, I'm not gonna lie, but one thing I've refused to do is shackle myself to outdated ideas about what aging means for women.

The year I turned 40

When I was growing up, I was surrounded by family and community elders filled with maxims and slogans. And one I heard frequently was a variation of this: "Youth is often wasted on the young." Usually delivered in a very "I told you so" tone while staring off into the distance, after you've shared a benign anecdote with them. Well, I've loved to prove people wrong about me since I've been sentient, so I vowed to myself at a young age that I would enjoy the absolute f**k out of my youth. And so I did. And despite youth's pitfalls and tragedies, I've made it to middle age on my own terms.

Heaven inside me...

The theme of my music video “Oh Rosie!” is “A woman’s gotta be who she’s gotta be…” All the ladies and femmes reading this - you know exactly what I’m talking about. And all you guys and dudes, I know there's ways you can relate, too. ESPECIALLY as we approach "a certain age”. Part of that pledge I made to myself a long time ago included this: that I wouldn’t be one of those people having an embarrassing mid-life crisis. Here's how I’ve been able to keep that promise to myself: by defining what “aging” looks like for me. No one gets to tell me, after all the years I’ve put in, what kind of woman I have to be now that I’m not considered young anymore. I DEFINE ME FOR MYSELF. And I will be who I have to in order to achieve my goals and dreams. Take those words and say them aloud to yourself.

This represents approximately 75% of my journals. I do NOT have a problem.

Now, full confession: I'm a chronic journal-er. And I don't know where I'd be today if I hadn't gone through probably 15 notebooks and journals the past 10 years to help me process my thoughts and feelings while navigating the major life changes that come with being middle-aged. So it was only natural when I and my "Oh Rosie!" creative partner Liz Tran decided to design this notebook to be your anchor as you decide who and how you’ve gotta be at this stage in your life.

Free yourself.

Use this journal to outline your vision of you, whether you're transitioning into your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, and beyond. You ain’t dead yet! Grab the Mid-Life Liberation journal and pour your heart out.