Messy Middlescence

Podcast by Tara (Conti) Bansal and Christina (Conti) Donovan

Messy Middlescence

Like adolescence – "Middlescence" is a time of tremendous change touching most aspects of our lives. There are the physical and hormonal changes but also many of the rhythms, relationships and frameworks that have dominated our lives for decades all start to shift in ways that are unbalancing at best – seismic at worst. Our podcast will explore the challenges and opportunities of these unique “middle” years. However – ours will be different because it is one of sharing, exploring and figuring things out together. It is "messy" because we do not have answers but we hope to discover some. We hope to motivate and / or guide listeners to actively change both their perspective and day-to-day reality of this unique time. We also aim to create a supportive connected community of listeners with similar struggles and questions. We truly hope you will join us!

Latest episodes

15 April 2025

Empowered Aging with Margie Zable Fisher

The Cabernet Club, released in January 2025, is a novel that follows Debbie Gordon as she seeks big changes and fulfillment in the second half of her life. The book is a light, funny and captivating read that still manages to highlight and explore many of the more serious aspects of the middlescence journey. It is co-authored by the late Rona S. Zable and her daughter, Margie Zable Fisher.

In today’s episode we speak with Margie Zable Fisher about her new book, The Cabernet Club, her mother, writing fiction and Margie’s own middlescence journey. There are so many topics we wanted to delve into with Margie who left her long-time career in PR to become a full-time writer after age 50. Margie (as was her mother) is both a huge proponent, as well as a prime example, of the importance of using your middle age years to create the life you want. Margie introduces the idea of “empowered aging” as she discusses the challenges and successful steps she embarked on when she turned 50.

We hope you find our conversation with Margie as delightful and fascinating as we did.

Some of the many topics we discuss include:

“The Margie Project” which was a year of intentional experiences when she turned 50 and how it ultimately left her feeling better and more empowered;
The importance of friendship – especially as we age – along with the idea that being a friend is a skill that we can learn and improve;
Margie’s loss of her mother, the promise she made to her, and how that changed her life;
How and why she shifted careers from PR to freelance writing;
The steps Margie took to learn how to write fiction
The belief that it is possible to have a happy retirement on a budget;
The comparisons between Rona Grable and Debbie Gordon, the protagonist of The Cabernet Club.
The plans for the next two books which will continue with The Cabernet Club characters.

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58:30

01 April 2025

Colleen's Story

One of the most difficult aspects of middle age is the continual reminder and realization of how fragile life is. This is not to say that terrible things do not happen to young people – they definitely do. However, for many of us – by the time we reach our 40’s and 50’s - we have either experienced or repeatedly witnessed lives that drastically change in an instant. It is almost as if a blindfold is removed and what we once thought of as “unthinkable” is more common than we believed. Tragic events, accidents, and diagnoses occur suddenly and then life as we know it (or as people we care about know it), is abruptly and completely shattered. The inevitable truth that life is both tremendously fragile and fleeting becomes something we understand and feel more deeply as we age.

As we continue our series this season on grief and loss, our guest today is Colleen Albright, who graciously and courageously shares her story of unthinkable losses. She shares her story in hopes that it will help others.

Colleen's life was a tapestry of joy and challenges, raising her children and thriving in a career she loves. On December 1^st 2022, a seemingly ordinary day in Coleen’s life, everything changed for her. And then it changed again. And again. In less than a year, Colleen experienced the deaths of her teenage son, her mother, her father and underwent a divorce.

She experienced a “before and after” that “obliterated” the person she was. Her story is not an easy one to hear but she tells it with a poise and grace that astounded us. Colleen offers many insights into navigating midlife's unpredictable challenges with courage and hope including:

There is no blueprint for grief. It is not linear. It is messy. And everyone grieves in different ways.
Grief is exhausting; grief is work.
For those who lose loved ones, you never get over it and it is important to embrace and accept that. There is no going back to who you were. There is no “normal” anymore.
Grief support groups are similar to finding a therapist – you don’t always click and it might take some effort to find one that you connect with and will help you.
The people that helped Colleen the most were not the ones she would have expected before this happened. Many people - no matter how much they care - just do not know what to do to support someone deeply grieving.
The feeling of time changes in grief. It progresses but feels different.
Let your grieving person talk. It is a gift for them to tell stories, memories and talk about their loved one.
There is no need to say anything to a grieving person. Do not say that it will be ok; do not say they need to stop crying or take a deep breath. Allow each person to grieve in the way they need to; allow them to be and do whatever they need.
The “fog” of grief is real and can last a long time.

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59:58

19 March 2025

Continuously Seeking with Alexa Dare

There are numerous definitions of the word “seeker”. The one that resonated with us most describes a seeker as “…characterized by a persistent and often intense curiosity, a desire to understand and explore and a willingness to question and learn”.

In today’s episode we interview our sister-in-law, Dr. Alexa Dare, Ph.D (Alex is married to our brother, Patrick, the 6^th of the 7 siblings in the Conti family). In the early minutes of our interview, Alex describes herself as a seeker and, as the interview unfolds, we learn exactly why. In describing her childhood, her professional life, her love of travel and the outdoors we see the true embodiment of that definition. And while for some people these qualities might diminish with age, as Alex approaches her 50^th birthday, her desire to learn new things, to strive for a deeper understanding of the world and to embrace new challenges is as strong as ever. But Alex’s middlescence journey is not without its own uncertainties and questioning struggles.

We hope you will join us as we discuss these challenges with Alex along with the following:

- Her childhood in Canada and the many places she has lived and traveled since then;
- Her “need” for time outdoors and her love of nature;
- The appeal of “doing nothing” and the difficulties of trying to plan such a thing;
- The plans for her next two big adventures;
- Her middlescence professional struggles;
- The generational differences around the definition of and questions about middle age;
- How to measure and define happiness and success;
- Her superpower of “adaptability”;
- What she is most proud of;
- Reframing the idea of retirement around work and time commitments; “working less and with more flexibility"

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57:10

04 March 2025

Is it Hot or Just Me? – Discussing (Peri)Menopause with Carin Luna-Ostaseski

The hormonal changes men and women undergo in middle age is one of the defining aspects of middlescence. Similar to what teenagers/adolescents undergo entering puberty, the hormonal changes of (peri)menopause, particularly for women, are dramatic, significant and unique to each person. Western culture and medicine have until quite recently, largely ignored these changes and the symptoms that go along with (peri)menopause and andropause.

In regard to (peri)menopause, it has been reported that most doctors receive only 1-2 hours total in their training. And while menopause is a natural process, there are at least 24 possible symptoms that can range in intensity from mere nuisance to life-altering. It is an extremely important quality of life issue for middle-aged women and those that love them. For those of us currently in mid-life, we are fortunate to live in a time when research, knowledge and attitudes about (peri)menopause are changing.

We are absolutely thrilled to discuss all this with one of the trailblazers leading the charge for this change. Carin Luna-Ostaseski is on a mission to transform how women experience (peri)menopause. She is the creator of “Hot or Just Me,” a website that offers a comprehensive platform integrating informational resources, products and compassionate community support around (peri)menopause. Carin’s own experiences prompted the creation of her website. Carin’s approach to managing (peri)menopause symptoms is rooted in self-care: women need to give themselves the time and energy to acknowledge and treat their symptoms.

We hope this episode provides invaluable advice and support to women and their loved ones. Our show notes are full of helpful links and additional information.

In this episode we discuss the following:

- Carin’s incredible story of being a trailblazer in the truest sense; the many lives she has led up to this point and her willingness to embrace change.
- The importance of finding a good doctor along with tips on how to do so.
- Being aware of our mental and emotional state during (peri)menopause and the need to “clean up our messes” and find either traditional or non-traditional support.
- The lack of awareness in the workplace of the effect of (peri)menopause symptoms on women and ways to change this.
- The importance of teaching young people a more complete picture of sex hormones and how they change throughout life instead of concentrating on one phase.
- The need for more information and awareness of andropause and the ways this can be a source of connection for partners during this time of life.
- The amazing products available to help treat and manage symptoms.
- The importance of self-care.
- The joy of having something that is just “yours”.

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01:05:33

18 February 2025

Grief Debrief

In today’s episode, Tara and Tina take time to consider and contemplate the vast amount of both practical information and words of wisdom from the two previous episodes on grief and loss. We hope you were able to listen to our last 2 episodes: “Learning and Living Through Grief” with Brett Danko and “When Their World Stops From Grief” with Anne-Marie Lockmyer. We recommend that you listen to them before listening to this one.

Today’s episode highlights what we learned and experienced through these interviews with Brett and Anne-Marie. We hope our discussion helps bring more clarity and positive energy to this emotional and difficult - but unavoidable and important topic. We encourage you to listen and hope you will contact us with any feedback and the impact these episodes had on you and your middlescence journey.

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29:07

04 February 2025

Learning and Living Thru Grief with Brett Danko

We are so inspired by and grateful for the many people willing to share their middlescence journey with us. We are humbled and amazed at their courage and willingness to open up and share their personal experiences, dreams and fears.

As we continue with this season’s theme of grief – we are especially grateful to our next guest. Brett Danko lost his beloved wife, Dawn, last March. She was 55 and had been fighting cancer for several years. Brett’s middlescence journey has been filled with what for many of us is our absolute worst nightmare.

Brett’s ability to be “an open book” and thoughtfully and stoically detail his last few years is a testament to his strength of character along with his innate abilities as an amazing teacher.

Take a deep breath, then listen and learn as we discuss Brett’s experience of grief and loss that touches upon a wide range of topics including:

- The importance of not holding emotions back and having those conversations where you tell the people you love how you feel;
- The impact and difficulties respective to a quick death versus a long and painful illness;
- The necessity of treating the people you love with kindness every day;
- How it is never too late to create an emotional link with people;
- Remembering that success is ultimately having people that love and care about you;
- Why middlescence is the time to be a little selfish and to do the things you want to do with the people you want to be with;
- The value of spending time with people who are going through a difficult situation regardless of whether that situation is permanent or not;
- The idea of an emotional bucket that you control who fills and empties it;
- Providing continued support to people in grief by reaching out via text, phone or an offer to come by AFTER the first 3 months;
- The decision to create and then fulfill your legacy.

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01:11:15