If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too late for me to...” the answer’s NO and The Uplifters are about to show you why. This space is for purpose-driven women who want to do big, brave things in the second half of their lives. I’m your host, Aransas Savas, and I’ve spent the last 20 years at the intersection of behavior change research and coaching.
This month, our theme is LOVE. We’re exploring:
💓 Mother love with Ruthie Ackerman (author of The Mother Code) on understanding the women who raised us, reconciling feminism and mothering, and reimagining this path in a way that feels right and true for ourselves. Listen HERE
💓 Friend love with Patina with Dina Aronson + Dina Alvarez on how later-life friendships and collaborations can unexpectedly change our creative paths
💓 Self-love with Wendy Harrop, who said a giant yes to herself even though it meant courageously ending her marriage, moving across the country, and upending all the personal and professional structures she built in the first half of her life
💓 Human love in the age of AI with Susan Ruth, host of the Hey Human podcast
💓 Romantic love with Alyssa Dineen, a midlife dating coach who helps us rethink the stories we’re telling ourselves about navigating the mysterious and messy world of modern dating
There’s a particular kind of love story that doesn’t get told enough. It’s not the passionate, all-consuming kind we see in movies. Instead, it’s something quieter and maybe more radical: two women meeting in their fifties, recognizing themselves in each other, and deciding to build something together.
Dina Aronson and Dina Alvarez’s meet cute is Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron-level: “A midlife blind date”. Sitting in a cab on the way, Dina Alvarez almost canceled. She was tired. She thought of all the ways it could be awkward. But she stayed in the cab. She showed up. In a blazer. She discovered they both love blazers. And writing. And they talked to one another liked they’d known one another their entire lives. Two women who say in words and actions: I see you. I believe in you. I’m going to push you to become who you’re meant to be, and you’re going to do the same for me.
Their open and honest conversations led to a realization: the stories being told about midlife women in our culture were incomplete. They were missing the richness, the complexity, the beauty of what it actually feels like to step into your forties, fifties, and beyond. So these two writers—one a former attorney turned pro-age advocate and Substacker, the other a lifelong storyteller and co-founder of SomosPadres—decided to ask other women to share their experiences. This became Midlife Private Parts: Revealing Essays That Will Change The Way You Think About Age, an anthology that gives voice to diverse women’s experiences of stepping into midlife and choosing what comes next.
Neither of them would have done this alone. This book exists because of their friendship. Because one woman said to the other, I see your fear, but I also see your power. Let’s do this together. Because they pushed each other out of comfort zones. Because they loved each other enough to be honest, to disagree, to work through the hard stuff. This is a book about women’s stories, yes. But it’s also a book created by women lifting each other up in midlife.
The book itself is part cultural critique, part love letter to midlife women. It’s filled with essays about menopause and mortality, about pleasure and purpose, about the things we’ve been taught not to talk about. No wonder, reading it feels like sitting with your wisest friends—the ones who tell you the hard truths and the beautiful ones.
What Research Tells Us About Midlife Women and Meaningful Work
Midlife women’s brains are uniquely primed for meaning-making. After decades of accumulated experience, pattern recognition, and hard-won wisdom, we develop what researchers call “crystallized intelligence”—the ability to synthesize information and see connections others miss. This is precisely why midlife is such a potent time for creative work, collaborative endeavors, and projects that require emotional depth and nuance. The Dinas didn’t need to be “ready” in the traditional sense to create this anthology. They already had everything they needed. As Dina Aronson says, “Women in midlife are never beginners.” We’re always bringing all of our other experiences with us, whether we are aware of them or not.
3 Ways Dina Aronson and Dina Alvarez Show Us How to Build Our Courage Capital—Together
Find your co-conspirator and do brave things together. When you find someone who believes in you, who sees your power even when you can’t, use that energy. We don’t have to do big things solo!
Be the person who sees what your friend is capable of—and say it out loud. Dina Aronson and Dina Alvarez see each other’s gifts. Being a good friend in midlife means being a mirror. It means saying, I see your fear, but I also see your strength. You’ve got this. And then believing it hard enough for both of you until she believes it too.
Build safe containers. The Dinas didn’t create this book despite their friendship. They created it because of their friendship. When you can bring your whole self—your fears, your doubts, your dreams—to both your work and your relationships, you make it safe for others to do the same.
Lift Them Up
The anthology Midlife Private Parts: Revealing Essays That Will Change The Way You Think About Age is available now and it is so freaking good. Read it. Share it with the women in your life. And then visit their website at MidlifePrivateParts.com to learn about all the contributors whose courage made this book possible.
Join Us at Uplifters Live
The Dinas have donated a ticket to Uplifters Live on March 13 because they believe in the power of women lifting each other up. Read all about this magical one-day retreat HERE.
So we’re asking you: Who’s the woman who should be in the room?
Maybe it’s you. Maybe it’s someone you know who’s navigating a big life transition and needs to hear from other women doing brave things. Maybe it’s someone whose courage you see but who doubts it herself.
Here’s what we’re looking for: A midlife woman doing brave things who craves a community of warm, generous friends and collaborators.
To nominate, simply reply here to this email by February 22 with:
Her name (or yours)
Why she belongs at Uplifters Live
We’ll choose someone whose journey we can’t wait to celebrate in person, and announce it here on February 26.
Let’s Chat!
Who’s your person? Who’s the woman in your life who sees your power even when you can’t see it yourself? Who challenges you to grow? Who would hold your hand while you do the scary thing?
And if you haven’t found her yet, maybe this is a sign to say yes to that coffee invitation. To respond to that voice in your head that says, I should reach out. To take a midlife blind date risk on a friendship that could change your life. And to look around and see if there’s someone who needs you to show up for them too.
If this episode moved you, share it with someone you love. Share it with the woman who needs to know her story matters. And subscribe to Patina with Dina Aronson and A few Good Things with Dina Alvarez to stay connected with women who are lifting each other up and changing the conversation about midlife.
