E116 Midlife's Dark Places and Pivots with Marie-Pierre Stien

10/18/17 • 45 min

My guest, Marie Pierre Stien, 54, is a listener of the podcast. In fact, she binged on the entire library of over 100 episodes over several weeks and then reached out to me, sharing her story in an email, that in turn changed MY story and that of the Experience 50 Podcast. Marie and I have become mutually smitten with each other.

Marie found the Experience 50 Podcast when she was searching for a way out of what she refers to as a "dark place". At the same time that she had listened to all of the prior episodes, I had taken a hiatus of several weeks because I was in a bit of a "dark place". And yes, those are the very words I used at the time, her words. Marie wrote to me. Her message was very emotionally honest about the difficulties she had been experiencing and the impact of my podcast on "shaking her up", helping her find her way to find purpose and light.

Moving out of the dark

As you will learn in our chat, she continues her successful career in business, while creating, selling and giving away her whimsical art and accompanying stories under the name P.M. Neist.

In this conversation, you will be drawn into her story of

her surprise by the midlife transition experience
finding herself in a dark place without a sense of purpose
working through her feelings of resentment toward her parents for steering her career away from her dreams
creating a life without a pre-set script
her year of "Yes"
what shook her up to make changes
changing her life through addition, not subtraction
embracing her artistic self and putting her work on display
creating Project 105, her weekly gift of a piece of art to a stranger
becoming a podcast co-host of AARP Houston's Prepare To Care
finding her way out of the dark place

Her advice for creative souls who chose a traditional career: Do it! Life is so short!

I must thank Marie for helping me to see the impact of Experience 50 on listeners. Her email meant the world to me and "shook me up", getting me back to the microphone with a renewed sense of commitment and appreciation for the difficulties that so many of us encounter as we reinvent ourselves at this age.

You can use the links above to visit Marie's artwork, listen to her podcast and subscribe to receive the weekly Project 105 newsletter.

Please email me your midlife story at [email protected].

Moving out of the dark

As you will learn in our chat, she continues her successful career in business, while creating, selling and giving away her whimsical art and accompanying stories under the name P.M. Neist.

In this conversation, you will be drawn into her story of

her surprise by the midlife transition experience
finding herself in a dark place without a sense of purpose
working through her feelings of resentment toward her parents for steering her career away from her dreams
creating a life without a pre-set script
her year of "Yes"
what shook her up to make changes
changing her life through addition, not subtraction
embracing her artistic self and putting her work on display
creating Project 105, her weekly gift of a piece of art to a stranger
becoming a podcast co-host of AARP Houston's Prepare To Care
finding her way out of the dark place

Her advice for creative souls who chose a traditional career: Do it! Life is so short!

You can use the links above to visit Marie's artwork, listen to her podcast and subscribe to receive the weekly Project 105 newsletter.

Please email me your midlife story at [email protected].

Previous Episode

E115 Divorce Your Divorce

In the last of three podcast episodes on navigating midlife divorce with my guest, Anthony J. Diaz, The Peacemaker, we discuss making your way through the aftermath.

If you sought the divorce or not, you now have to adapt to massive life changes. Once the legal process is over, yet another chapter of divorce begins, the process of moving on. Well-intentioned friends may invite you to celebrate the milestone and encourage you to dive back into the dating pool. This is far easier said than done. Anthony shares that most people have a difficult time letting go of the emotions and mindset that you held leading up to and then during the legal process.

In this episode, my guest and I discuss:

Why you must allow reasonable time to reflect on the losses that come with the end of a marriage. I ask Anthony to discuss how a newly divorced person can feel both anger and nostalgia simultaneously...Read More

Next Episode

E117 Unlocking Your Libido w/Suzanna Miller

Have you become asexual? Or perhaps looking to expand your sexual experience. My guest lived with a depressed libido for most of her adult life, until something very surprising happened. She tells her amazing story to midlifers on Experience 50.

Meet Suzanna Miller, 53:

Following a spontaneous awakening of ecstatic energy during meditation several years ago, Suzanna Miller set out to discover the nature of sexual energy beyond the physical act, and its ability to transform our lives. In the process, her experiences have revealed to her the sublime potential for pleasure that resides within every cell in our body. Suzanna now inspires women in the practice of awakening this energy and revamping their approach to sexuality through her blog and podcast at experience50.com/bliss.

Full episode show notes