Saturday, January 26, 2013

Growing Out of My Forty Fabulousness

I've been hearing this a lot lately: what are you going to call your blog now that you're turning 50?

This is 40, but this isn't me.

My first reaction is slight resentment. My blog hasn't really been about the fabulousness of a specific age, more about having fun exploring this gratifying stage and celebrating the joys of midlife. Can't "Forty Fabulous" refer to the general state of being over forty and still include women in their fifties and beyond? Besides, many of my readers are still in their forties, I don't want my aging up to leave them behind.

I started this blog five years ago when I was already well into my forties and knew they were great, so the name made sense. But on the brink of this milestone birthday, I don't know what to expect from the next decade yet. At my book club Thursday night, the women looked lovely and the wine was flowing, but the tone was far from celebratory. One of our members' mother had died that day and another friend was at the hospital, keeping vigil at her gravely ill father's bedside. Two other women had lost parents within months. There was a lot of sadness in our circle, and the shared recognition that - at this stage in life - we'll all be required to do some heavy lifting.

Not every aspect of my 50s is going to be fabulous and I have to say the name "Forty Fabulous" seems a little outdated and cutesy anyway. But I'm still me, and I intend to continue to approach life with a sense of wonder and adventure and a little naughtiness. I'm still going to write about relationships and sex and the arts and fantastic women and fashion and teenagers and growth and finding meaning and connection - and I fully intend to have a fabulous time doing it, damn it!

So what do you think? Does this blog need a name change?  (I'm kind of coming around to the opinion that it does.) And if so, what should it be? Maybe something that doesn't refer to a number at all.

Please help me out! I really would love to hear your suggestions.

PS - I toyed with the name "Ripe Peach" to convey a sort of juicy, delicious. ageless maturity. But when you google those terms, you come up with a lot of porn.

3 comments:

Marjie Killeen said...

Okay, I'm trying this - Forty Fabulous, Fifty Free - because the thing most women say is best about their 50s is they feel liberated. What do you think of that?

Barb Elgin said...

You go, fabulous gal....

Marjie Killeen said...

Thanks for the support, Barb!