This week Ali is sharing something close to her heart. Tom, her eldest son, has just finished his final A-level, and with it, an entire chapter of life has come to a close. In this episode she takes you into the lay-by on the side of the road where she had to pull over because the tears wouldn't stop. The full circle moment. The rush of pride, grief, love and terror all at once.

And from that place she asks a question that changes everything: why would you want to regulate this emotion?

This is an episode about emotions and why feeling them fully, all of them, is not something to be managed or controlled but something to be honoured. About the midlife transition so many women are standing in right now. About what it really means when the children start to fly. About why Ali refuses to call it empty nesting and what she's calling it instead.

If you're in this season, approaching it, or supporting someone who is, this one is for you.

In This Episode

• The moment Tom walked out of school for the last time and what it stirred up in Ali
• Why "emotional regulation" is a phrase Ali takes issue with and what she thinks it costs us
• The dam analogy and what really happens when we suppress instead of feel
• Why Ali pulled over in a lay-by and what happened when she let it all come through
• Roller coasters versus teacups and which one Ali is always going to choose
• The bungee ski jump in Austria, the boys cheering at the bottom, and what fear really feels like when you walk straight into it
• Why Ali refuses the phrase "empty nest" and what she's renaming this chapter
• Joy Nesting. Bird launching. And why this era might be the most exciting one yet
• Fiji 1999, the dreams James and Ali cast on that beach, and what it means to have actually built them
• The question every woman in midlife needs to ask herself right now
• Why this is your time. Just On You.

Quotes From This Episode

"Why would you want to regulate that feeling? I have never felt so alive."

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving completely safe and preserved and pristine. We're going to be skidding up to those pearly gates, totally spent, totally exhilarated, going — holy fck, what a ride."*

"Nothing is wrong. Your feelings are finally getting their turn."

"We're not the people who go to the fairground and ride in the teacups. We're the people who run for the roller coaster."

"Joy Nesting. Because we have created a home with joy, and they will always come back to it."

Mentioned In This Episode

• The Hawkins Scale of Consciousness : Number 11 in the Joy Emporium  https://www.alimortimer.com/the-joy-emporium
• The Joy Rebellion → https://www.alimortimer.com/the-joy-rebellion

Connect With Ali

Website: alimortimer.com 

Instagram: @alimortimer_thejoycoach

https://www.alimortimer.com/