In February, I spent two glorious weeks in Loreto Bay, Mexico. From the moment I walked down the jetway to board the United Airlines flight that would be the start of my journey, I knew the trip would be transformative. Waiting for me at the other end, in Loreto Bay, would be my friend, Tammy, whom I had met in Greece two-and-a-half years earlier.

My reasons for going to Loreto Bay were two-fold: I was there on business but I was also there on vacation and planned to spend time playing catch-up with Tammy.

While in Loreto Bay, I conducted a session on “Empowering Women in Midlife…and Beyond” while attending the TLC Writing Retreats for Women, which was facilitated by Tammy along with her business partner, Linda. On the final day of the retreat, as nine women gathered in the living room of the villa where I was staying, Tammy led the group in an exercise patterned after Six Word Memoirs. We each began by writing our six word memoir, then we gave our impressions of the other women in six words. The six word memoir that I wrote for myself was:

“Seeing with eyes. Hearing with heart.”

As I thought about midlife and the wonderful women who thrive in it―our strengths, our values, our complexities, our courage, our struggles, our truths, our lives―I wanted to tell a story and honor midlife women in six words. Instead of one story using just six words, I wrote ten.

Do you have a six word story that honors the women of midlife?