Has the aliveness you used to feel about your own life gotten quieter? That forward-leaning sense that things were possible, that there were things you were genuinely excited about... it's just not as loud as it used to be. And underneath that quiet is a fear most women never say out loud: what if my spark is just gone?

She's not gone. She didn't disappear. She didn't leave. She just got buried. And those are completely different things with completely different solutions.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why so many midlife women carry the quiet fear that their spark is gone — and why that fear makes complete sense even when it's not true
• The difference between a spark that disappeared and a spark that got buried — and why that distinction changes everything
• How the burying happens gradually, without you even noticing — the ideas filed away as not practical, the pulls toward something that got quieter with each layer
• Why buried things don't disappear — they wait, patient and intact, for the moment you start to uncover them
• The kite analogy — what it feels like to finally pull your real desire down from the sky and into your lap where it actually requires something from you
• What happens on calls when a woman hits the thing she's been protecting — and why her whole energy gives it away before her brain can talk her out of it
• Why the spark you uncover might look a little different than it did at 32 — and why that's not loss, that's evolution
• What to look for when you're trying to find your way back to her — the thing you talk about where your energy shifts, the idea that keeps coming back, no matter how many times you talk yourself out of it

Links mentioned in this episode:

Not Done Yet Reset (free) — rachelaperry.com/notdoneyet

Connect with Rachel:

Instagram — @rachelaperry TikTok — @rachelaperry Website — rachelaperry.com

Loved this episode? Share it with a midlife woman in your life who needs to hear it. She is not done yet either.

Midlife is weird. We shouldn't have to figure it out alone.

Get on the Midlife Meetups list to be the first to know when we're getting together near you or online. No networking. No awkward elevator pitches. Just real women, real conversation, and a reminder that you're definitely not the only one wondering what the hell is happening in this season of life.

Go to www.rachelaperry.com/midlifemeetups

You've said it this week. Maybe more than once. That little phrase that sneaks in before you share an idea, a dream, or even just a feeling. This might sound silly. I know it's probably not realistic. I could never do something like that, but. In this episode, Rachel names the pattern that is quietly costing midlife women more than they realize and why it has nothing to do with humility and everything to do with armor.

In this episode:

• The many forms self-dismissal takes and why you probably don't even notice when you're doing it
• Why "this might sound silly" is not humility. It's armor.
• The preemptive self-dismissal pattern and where it actually comes from
• How decades of caretaking, people pleasing and good girl conditioning trained you to shrink
• Why you're not just dismissing yourself... you're training the people around you to dismiss you too.
• The dream disclaimer and why it's the most heartbreaking form of self-dismissal
• Why "maybe one day" is where dreams go to slowly die
• The one thing Rachel wants you to do this week (it's simpler than you think)
• A sneak peek at next week's episode about something you never actually lost

Links & Resources:

• Free Not Done Yet Reset → rachelaperry.com/notdoneyet
• Follow Rachel on Instagram and TikTok → @rachelaperry

Loved this episode? Share it with the midlife friend who starts every sentence with "this might sound silly." She needs to hear this one.

Midlife is weird. We shouldn't have to figure it out alone.

Get on the Midlife Meetups list to be the first to know when we're getting together near you or online. No networking. No awkward elevator pitches. Just real women, real conversation, and a reminder that you're definitely not the only one wondering what the hell is happening in this season of life.

Go to www.rachelaperry.com/midlifemeetups

Nobody warned us that midlife would feel like this. The body is changing, the roles are shifting, and somewhere in the middle of loading the dishwasher and the school drop-offs and the job that used to feel like enough, you're asking a question you haven't had time to ask in decades. Who am I now? In this episode, Rachel names the quiet identity evolution that most women are going through, but nobody is talking about, and why it might be the most important thing happening in your life right now.

In this episode:

• Why the scaffolding of your identity starts to shift in midlife and what that actually means
• The moment you realize your roles don't define you the way they used to
• Why "I don't know what I want" is often a protection mechanism, not confusion
• The feelings that never get named out loud: restlessness, grief, guilt, invisibility
• Why staying in "I don't know" feels safer than naming what you actually want
• The difference between an identity crisis and an identity evolution
• Why this moment is not a sign that something is broken. It's a sign that something is waking up.
• The one question worth sitting with right now: who do you want to be in this next chapter?

Links & Resources:

• Free Not Done Yet Reset → rachelaperry.com/notdoneyet
• Follow Rachel on Instagram and TikTok → @rachelaperry

Loved this episode? Share it with a midlife friend who needs someone to finally name what she's been feeling. We're building this movement one conversation at a time, and she is absolutely not done yet.

Midlife is weird. We shouldn't have to figure it out alone.

Get on the Midlife Meetups list to be the first to know when we're getting together near you or online. No networking. No awkward elevator pitches. Just real women, real conversation, and a reminder that you're definitely not the only one wondering what the hell is happening in this season of life.

Go to www.rachelaperry.com/midlifemeetups

Midlife is weird. There, she said it. In this episode, Rachel gets real about the transitions, the 2 a.m. wake-ups, the hormones, the grief, and the big feelings that come with this stage of life and why all of it is completely normal. If you've ever felt like you're starting over, questioning everything, or wondering when it's finally your turn, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• Why Rachel is awake between 2 and 4 a.m. every night (and why her Apple Watch might be lying)
• The grief that can sneak into midlife, even over things you didn't expect to grieve
• All the different transitions happening at once: kids leaving, divorce, retirement, career shifts, identity changes
• Why midlife can feel like starting over, even when you're bringing decades of experience with you
• The guilt that shows up when we ask, "When is it my turn?" and why you're allowed to ask it
• Why you're not broken, ungrateful, or in crisis. You're waking up.
• How Gen X women carry both heavy baggage and serious resilience
• The self-dismissal pattern Rachel keeps seeing in midlife women (and a full episode on this coming soon)

Links & Resources:

• Free Not Done Yet Reset Guide→ rachelaperry.com/notdoneyet
• DM Rachel on Instagram → @rachelaperry

Loved this episode? Share it with a midlife friend who needs to hear that what she's feeling is completely normal. We're building this movement together, and she is absolutely not done yet.

Midlife is weird. We shouldn't have to figure it out alone.

Get on the Midlife Meetups list to be the first to know when we're getting together near you or online. No networking. No awkward elevator pitches. Just real women, real conversation, and a reminder that you're definitely not the only one wondering what the hell is happening in this season of life.

Go to www.rachelaperry.com/midlifemeetups

If you've been feeling like something in your life is shifting... like everything looks fine on the outside, but something feels different on the inside... this episode is for you. Rachel Perry introduces the Not Done Yet movement, shares her own messy, real midlife reinvention story, and sets the tone for what this podcast is all about: community, courage, and the second act you didn't know you were ready for.

In this episode:

• Why midlife feels so disorienting — and why that's actually a good sign
• The quiet questions so many women are asking: Is this it? When is it my turn?
• Rachel's three major pivots since turning 44 (including leaving a million-dollar partnership)
• Why we dismiss ourselves in midlife — and how to start listening to the nudge instead
• What the Not Done Yet movement is and who it's for

Links & Resources:

• Free Not Done Yet Reset Clarity Guide → rachelaperry.com/notdoneyet
• DM Rachel on Instagram or TikTok → @rachelaperry

Loved this episode? Share it with a midlife friend who needs to hear it. We need this community, and she needs to know she's not done yet either.

Midlife is weird. We shouldn't have to figure it out alone.

Get on the Midlife Meetups list to be the first to know when we're getting together near you or online. No networking. No awkward elevator pitches. Just real women, real conversation, and a reminder that you're definitely not the only one wondering what the hell is happening in this season of life.

Go to www.rachelaperry.com/midlifemeetups