Women Wiser Than I: Elizabeth Gilbert
"I’ve never seen any life transformation that didn’t begin with the person in question finally getting tired of their own bullshit." — Elizabeth Gilbert
Starting over in midlife sometimes feels like breaking a contract you signed with your younger self.
You made a promise to yourself to stay the course, be steadfast.
But what if the course no longer fits? What if steadfastness starts to feel less like liberation and more like a cage?
When I find myself feeling conflicted about letting go of a path I’ve outgrown, I return to this quote from Elizabeth Gilbert, whose writing reminds me that reinvention isn’t betrayal, it’s evolution.
Most of the major turning points in my life didn’t come from perfectly timed awakenings or grand vision boards (though I do have a pretty cool story about that for another day). They came from that final piece of straw being laid on the camel’s back. From finally saying, “I can’t do this anymore.”
Or I could, but I don’t want to.
The job that drains you. The relationship that silences you. The version of yourself that no longer fits.
I distinctly remember sitting down one day at a coffee shop in Medellin, Colombia to work on my memoir. I was reading through my old journals, taking notes, and I got so fed up seeing the same old patterns being repeated, so tired of my own bullshit that I slammed the journal closed and shelved the project.
Gilbert reminds us that the first—and sometimes biggest—step in transformation is throwing your hands up, saying enough is enough and getting real with yourself.
🎧 Listen / Watch
For more of Liz’s wisdom on starting over:
· 🎙️ https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/magic-lessons/
Magic Lessons Se. 1, Ep. 12: Brene Brown on "Big Strong Magic" (podcast episode on creative fear, courage, and identity shifts)
· 📺 “Success, Failure, and the Drive to Keep Creating” (Gilbert’s TED Talk on starting over after a massive success and how it’s not so different from starting over after failure)
💭 Reflections/Journal Prompts
What are you tired of pretending is “fine”?
Is there something you’ve outgrown but haven’t let go of yet? (job, relationship, mindset, limiting belief, etc.)
I think midlife teaches us that we have freedom. Freedom to either 'stay the course' or say 'nope, I'm out'. I love Gilbert's quote but think some might not take on any transformation because they are scared. Scared, though, is maybe why you should take on the transformation, when you're tired enough of your own bullshit!