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Anna Hewitt's avatar

I often feel like I am writing about the same themes over and over, but I think it is part of the process of learning and exploring life. And there are so many ideas and perspectives and ways to see the same things a little differently.

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Katie Hawkins-Gaar's avatar

Yes! I feel this way too. Thank you for the validation!

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Valentina Petrova's avatar

I am definitely writing about the same themes over and over. I do hope that every time I revisit a theme, I am actually doing a better job and looking at it from a different perspective. My readers seem to appreciate it.

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Valentina Petrova's avatar

Fun read. Wait till you get to 50. LOL. 40s definitely rocked for me but also exhausted me.

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Katie Hawkins-Gaar's avatar

That sounds about right!!

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Lori Z.'s avatar

Your friend Paige is right! 29 sounds like a good number. Maybe think of your 40's and 50's as a plateau, and the view is incredible. Not so much looking back but just being present to what is. There is no such thing as over the hill. Were that true it would have started somewhere in our teens, but seriously, it's an old expression. Kinda like colder than a well diggers butt, when it's zero in the dead of winter. Okay maybe not the best comparison but you get the gist. Keep writing, keep listening to your heart and go with it. Remember to stay present. Billy is the best with the birthday sign! I'm going to reread this post bc once again, you've gone sneaky with couching things into your writing. xo

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Karen Davis's avatar

There’s more than one hill. It’s like when you’re in the foothills of the mountains and you think you went over a huge hill and you’ve surely made it to the summit, only to find out there’s another hill on the other side that’s even bigger. Or maybe it will be smaller. But there will be hills there will be more hills. We’re never really over the hills. Sometimes you’re going uphill sometimes you’re going downhill. It’s nice to enjoy the downhills.

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Katie Hawkins-Gaar's avatar

There will be hills. Such a good tagline for life.

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Rebecca Coates's avatar

I love this take on the "hill" metaphor for life!

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Hannah Iris's avatar

I genuinely appreciate everything you write and share here with us, Katie.

Your memory of the cake tractor made me laugh -- there's so many things we misremember from our childhoods, and so many things our parents think we should totally obviously remember that we absolutely couldn't possibly!

I'm 44, the same age my dad was when he died and exactly half the age my grandma Iris, his mom, was when she did. How's that for a mindfuck of trying to orient to your own life. Here's to us all finding, creating, meaning in whatever this fast/slow/fast ride on this hurling planet of ours is.

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Katie Hawkins-Gaar's avatar

It’s so hard to wrap your head around!! Here’s to making sense of the tractor ride that is life 😂 🚜 ❤️

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Wendi Gordon's avatar

I’m doing Substack Lives with writers over 50 about the positive ways our beliefs and lives have changed as we’ve aged.

The change mentioned most often is prioritizing our needs and desires over other people’s expectations and approval.

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