About

The hardest part of starting my blog was giving it a name.

After weeks of trying to come up with catchy titles that would capture what I wanted to do, what I wanted to say, I still hadn’t found the right words.  I began to realize my problem wasn’t defining my blog.  It was defining myself.  I fail to see myself as a menopausal empty nester.  I am not a foolish bird and I detest the menopause label.

The more women I talk to, the more I come to realize that for far too long we’ve only been making history and it’s time to start making “her-story”.  I don’t want to “reinvent” myself, I just want to own who I am and I want to do it with passion.  I am 52 years old and feel more alive now than ever before.

Last night before climbing in to bed, I sat at my desk and words started pouring out from my heart on to my laptop.  I’ve been working on a book with my son which is difficult enough since I’m not qualified to write much more than a shopping list but I cranked out a chapter as quickly as I had turned fifty.  At the same time I experienced a fire from within that traveled up from my toes until it burst through my eyeballs.  It was my third god damn undeniable hot flash.

And that’s when it hit me.

Just like all these amazing women I’ve been meeting, I was on fire, both literally and in terms of my life. Being Greek I’ve always had a fiery personality but now I had found a passion to direct it at.

Despite a five- year stretch that would’ve broken most people, I found myself driving across the country with my bloodhound Skilo (Greek for dog), to pitch 2 reality shows. I was driving because I was still petrified to step onboard an airplane. I realized that I wasn’t going to let fear or society, tell me how the rest of my life was going to go.  I’ve been told over and over that I’m not a demographic because I’m not 18-49 and I’m still laughing about it.

Did you hear that ladies?  After 49 we don’t exist.

I do exist and so do you.  And even though I need my glasses to read, I can see more clearly now than ever before.  I’ve stopped trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and started focusing on who I am.  Myself.

I’m still afraid to fly but neither that nor an increasingly youth obsessed society is going to get in my way.

Though “On Fire At Fifty” refers to me, as I conquer the second half of my life, it is about celebrating all women.  Their strength, their courage, and the fierce passion with which they live their lives and pursue their dreams.

By: Anita Devlin

Connect with Anita:
Twitter: @devlin_anita
NAPW Profile: Anita Devlin
Linkedin: Anita Baglaneas Devlin