The MidLife Threshold Podcast

What if the thing that’s keeping you stuck is the very thing that once made you successful?Your habit of taking care of everybody else while ignoring your own needs.The overwork and perfectionism.The ability to push through no matter how tired you are, and how desperately you want to rest.All of those are survival strategies we adopted to get us here.But by the time we reach midlife, those old strategies have long outlived their usefulness.And still, we keep repeating them. It’s automatic.Which is why insight alone is not enough. Knowing why we do something when we don’t want to is unlikely to lead to change.If we want to stop repeating the same patterns, we need a map.In the season finale of The Midlife Threshold podcast, I share my map of transformation and show how the stories we’ve explored all season illuminate the path.Together, we walked into the dark woods with Vasilisa the Beautiful.We felt the hunger of the girl in The Magic Orange Tree and the grief of the boy in The Stone Child.We watched Anansi play his tricks (and get outsmarted!) in Anansi and the Strange Stone.And we banded together with the villagers to free the buried moon and restore her to the night sky in The Stolen Mother MoonNow, it’s time to excavate the buried Self and bring her back into the light.Because midlife is not about reinvention.It’s about excavation and reclamation.It’s time to claim what has always belonged to us.You can enjoy this as a standalone episode. And when you want to dig a little deeper, I invite you to explore the other stories in this series:Ep. 5: The Stolen Mother Moon—A Folktale on Restoring The Buried Self at MidlifeEpisode 4: Anansi and the Strange Stone: A Folktale on Awakening The Self at MidlifeEpisode 3: The Stone Child: A Folktale on Freeing the Captive Self at MidlifeEpisode 2: The Magic Orange Tree — A Folktale on Feeding the Forbidden Hunger of MidlifeEpisode 1: Vasilisa the Beautiful and the Impossible Task of MidlifeThanks for reading The MidLife Threshold! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marjorieflorestal1.substack.com

You can’t set an alarm to warn you when midlife has arrived.Most women become aware of its presencewhen the light goes out.All the things on our to-do listare still getting done.But somewhere inside of us,darkness reigns.In this podcast episode, we learn how to turn on the light.Follow me to the English countryside—to the marshlands where land and sea kiss.There, we’ll explore an old English folktale about a buried moon, the dangerous bogs, and the villagers who courageously set off to restore the moon to her rightful place.Together, we’ll discover how midlife prepares us to reclaim our buried selves.You can enjoy this as a standalone episode.And when you want to dig a little deeper, I invite you to explore the other stories in this series:Episode 4: Anansi and the Strange Stone: A Folktale on Awakening The Self at MidlifeEpisode 3: The Stone Child: A Folktale on Freeing the Captive Self at MidlifeEpisode 2: The Magic Orange Tree — A Folktale on Feeding the Forbidden Hunger of MidlifeEpisode 1: Vasilisa the Beautiful and the Impossible Task of Midlife This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marjorieflorestal1.substack.com

Midlife is the time when many women begin to recognizethat we’ve been tricked.Not only by the world around us,but by our own survival strategies.Once upon a time, they helped us cope. But now, when we try to free ourselvesfrom these old strategies,we fall unconscious.In this podcast episode, I explore that strange patternthrough the Ghanaian folktale Anansi and the Strange Stone.Come with me down to Anansi’s caveto discover why midlife is the right timeto reclaim what has always belonged to us.You can enjoy this as a standalone episode.And when you want to dig a little deeper,I invite you to explore the other stories in this series: Episode 3: The Stone Child: A Folktale on Freeing the Captive Self at MidlifeEpisode 2: The Magic Orange Tree — A Folktale on Feeding the Forbidden Hunger of MidlifeEpisode 1: Vasilisa the Beautiful and the Impossible Task of Midlife This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marjorieflorestal1.substack.com

Have you ever felt like you’ve outgrown your life, yet you can’t seem to create the version you really want?The desire is thereThe longingThe hunger.But whenever you try to reach for what you want, something inevitably gets in the way.You find yourself weighed down by old beliefs, old patterns, and old stories.The truth is, the very things keeping you stuck may once have saved your life.We all carry survival strategies that made perfect sense once upon a time. The problem is that these same strategies can outlive their usefulness and become the things that keep us captive.Midlife may be the first time we feel safe enough to recognize the strategies that helped us survive are no longer helping us live.In this week’s episode, I share an Inuit folktale called The Stone Child. It’s a story about grief, survival, and discovering the gift hidden in the wound.It may just change the way you think about the parts of yourself you’ve been trying so hard to fix.This story is part of a series. You can find the rest here:Episode 1: Vasilisa The Beautiful and The Impossible Task of MidlifeEpisode 2: The Magic Orange Tree--A Folktale on Feeding the Forbidden Hunger of Midlife This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marjorieflorestal1.substack.com

By midlife, many women have become remarkably good at being needed.We know how to meet deadlines, hold the family together, and show up for everyone else.But what happens when the life we’ve built no longer feeds us?In this episode, I explore that question through the Haitian folktale The Magic Orange Tree—a story about hunger, desire, and the difference between a life formed around usefulness and one rooted in nourishment.Listen closely.The old stories have a way of uncovering the parts of us we thought were long buried.You can enjoy this as a standalone episode.And when you want to dig a little deeper,I invite you to explore the other stories in this series: Episode 1: Vasilisa the Beautiful and the Impossible Task of Midlife This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marjorieflorestal1.substack.com

We’re told that midlife is the time to reinvent ourselves—to find a new career, a new purpose, and a new identity. But what if midlife isn’t about reinvention? What if it’s about excavating the self we buried under old stories, other people’s expectations, and cultural scripts?In this first podcast episode, I explore that dilemma through an old Russian fairy tale called Vasilisa the Beautiful. Vasilisa is a story about discernment, self-trust, and the seemingly impossible task of sorting what’s ours from what is not ours.Come a little closer.Some stories are meant to be read. But this one is meant to be heard.Image credit: Vasilisa at the Hut of Baba Yaga, by Ivan Bilibin This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marjorieflorestal1.substack.com