What next at 63?
Posted on 17th October 2024 at 13:59
My first solo video on the Midlife and Beyond YouTube Channel seems to have hit a nerve! I'd love to know what you think. Join me on this channel as I explore what it means to age with purpose, share my research on midlife and aging, and discuss the challenges of transitioning careers.
I'm putting some intention and attention to growing this YouTube channel to change the narrative on aging—because it starts with us!
TRANSCRIPT
Hey there, I am 63 years old and I am at a crossroads. My name's Jo Blackwell and I've been working as a brand photographer for the last 14 years and I founded The Midlife Movement to help other women going through menopause and midlife and out through the other side. I've been running this YouTube channel for a while now.
I've been doing podcasts with experts in the midlife space, but I've been talking for a while about doing talking head videos, so just me on camera reporting on the things that I've found out during all my research and the writing that I've been doing. And maybe even taking you for a walk sometimes like this!
And my son said to me today, you keep talking about this, why don't you JFD I? Just ...flippin' do it. And I said, all right, I've got to get the studio ready, and I've got to do my hair, and I've got to do my makeup. And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Just take your phone, get outside, and talk. So here I am, because I like a challenge.
So, [00:01:00] you're probably going to hear the cows lowing in the background, and you're probably going to hear the birds. And I might have to stop it if a jogger comes past because I'm too embarrassed to be seen doing this out in public. But I'd love to know, I'd love to know how you feel if you're in your 60s because I remember feeling like this when I was turning 50 and I wrote a blog...
I was really depressed at the time which was part of the whole hormonal upheaval thing. I wrote this blog called Project 50 which I later turned into a book called Oh Crap I'm 50. But I came through the other side of it, became a photographer. And that was that, you know, I thought that was me set and then suddenly I've hit 63, and I'm at this crossroads again.
I'm wondering, okay, so when I was 50, I was thinking all those things that you think, you know, there's more life behind me than there is in front of me and who am I now and what do I want to do? Do I want to change things? Do I want to change my work? Do I want to live [00:02:00] somewhere else, do something else?
And I kind of got through that, and since then, through The Midlife Movement, I've been helping other women do that. And then I've hit 63. I decided I was going to start up a, like a little indie publishing company for the books that I write, and I'm doing that, but the problem is my photography is my main source of income.
Now I'm really lucky in that there's a jogger coming. Just let them go past. I feel really silly doing this! I forgot what I was saying as well. I'm really lucky. Somebody else pays the mortgage, puts the food on the table, so I'm not going to starve. And I know that there's so many of you out there who, you know, aren't in that position. And I do feel for you. You know, there's, I have a huge gap in my pension provision and I don't want to live on somebody else for the rest of my life. I want to make my contribution and, you [00:03:00] know, I'm not ready to slow down. I just need to do something different because my knees don't bend and my fingers, I'm getting arthritis in my fingers so they get stuck and that's not really conducive to taking photographs.
I've loved my work as a brand photographer and I know I'm going to miss it and I'm just about to do this last shoot as I say but there isn't, hasn't been this nice easy transition so I'm in a little bit of a pickle at the moment and at this crossroads which way to go. I'd love to know if you're in that position, what you think, what are you going to do?
How are you approaching this? One of the things that I'm going to do is I'm going to grow this YouTube channel. So I'm going to be reporting on the research that I'm doing about midlife and growing older. My mission has always been to change the narrative on ageing. One story at a time. And of course it starts with us.
So I have to keep pulling myself up when I think things like, Oh, I'm too old because my knees don't bend or whatever. And I'm writing this book called The Good News About Midlife and Growing Older. Because there is some. And so I'm going to [00:04:00] be kind of reporting on some of the research that I've found and I'll carry on as well, you know, doing the interviews for the podcast.
And I'm sorry if I'm talking really quietly, but it's because I'm outside. And it'd be nice to come for a walk every now and again, wouldn't it? So. I hope you'll join me. I hope you'll, maybe subscribe if you enjoy this video, I hope that I will get better at doing this and maybe a little bit more polished and there will be some where I do them in the studio where I'm in like in my comfort zone.
But for now, I'm going to say goodbye and I look forward to seeing you in the YouTube comments.
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Tagged as: Inspiration
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