Women Wiser Than I: Amy Poehler

Crisis schmisis

“I’m just digging this time. There should be another term besides “midlife crisis,” everyone likes to say she/he is having a midlife crisis. I’d love to rebrand some version of that where you start having a midlife discovery or breakthrough.” – Amy Poehler

I gotta say, even though my life is currently in upheaval, I’m digging this time too. It’s like I woke up on my 40^th birthday clean out of f*cks, replaced instead by eyerolls, heavy sighs, raised eyebrows and pursed lips. Overnight, I had morphed into Cillian Murphy in interview mode.

Some of my own personal midlife discoveries and breakthroughs:

· My bs threshold has lowered significantly. I no longer care about being polite to rude people. I have less patience for stupidity/arrogance/rudeness/hypocrisy or any other undesirable traits.

· Instead of speaking my mind more I let my silence and disengagement speak for itself. I no longer waste my time or sanity trying to reason with unreasonable people.

· Makeup is an elective, not a requirement.

· I work out to be strong and feel good rather than to obtain some ideal body. I like cake too much to have abs.

· Rage can be a good thing—if you listen instead of repressing it, it can inform and guide you.

· My face has elevens and parentheses. Instead of powerfully proclaiming that this too is beautiful, I accept that it just IS. In fact, the furrows may actually work in my favor and give off a “don’t mess with me” vibe.

· I’d rather be in my own company than have relationships of convenience.

· Caring about what other people think of me has fallen off my to-do list.

· While not quite in my crone era yet, being much less in the male gaze has been liberating and has led to a greater comfort in my body.

· Socrates was right—”all I know is that I know nothing.”

🎧 Listen

Listen to Poehler chat with other wise women like Michelle Obama, Olivia Colman, and Regina Hall on her Good Hang Podcast.

📖Read

Check out her debut memoir Yes Please for more on creative reinvention, aging with humor, and unapologetically being yourself.

💭Reflections / Journal Prompts

-What are some of your midlife discoveries and breakthroughs? (I’d love to read them in the comments!)