Practical Change for Midlife Lesbians

To showcase the fiction of best-selling author Melissa Good, enjoy chapter 1 of Partners, the first of her series of sci-fi lesbian fiction. If you are a fan of dystopian futures, imaginative evolution outcomes, dark but redeemable heroes and ingenues who become badasses, you'll love Partners. Let me know if you'd like to hear more from the series!

This is the first in an arc of podcasts featuring guests who have created interesting and inspiring avocations that enrich their lives, even as they continue to work in their "day jobs." These women are creators or helpers or both.

For this episode, I am very pleased to introduce Melissa Good. Missy is a prolific author who started writing for public consumption twenty-five years ago in the genre of Xena fan fiction, and then not long after, branched out into original work that featured our familiar heroines but set in today's world, and later, in a sci fi world. As noted on Amazon, Missy's first published book Tropical Storm "took the lesbian reading world by storm with a tale of heartache, longing, family strife, lust for love, and redemption."

Writing non-stop since then, Missy is a best-selling author of dozens of books that are available to purchase in print or digitally. Or if you want, you can read them for free on her website, Merwolf.com. Why? Because she writes for her own entertainment.

#xena #xenafanfic #xenite #xenites

We all want something. Sometimes big, sometimes modest. Lose 10 pounds. Make a million dollars. Find or repair that relationship. Learn to sew. We want what we want because of how we think we will feel once we have it. If we aren't able to find feelings along the way that we enjoy – even if it's just anticipation of the future having of the thing – then the journey to that particular outcome will be much harder to sustain over time. And let's face it, once we have that thing, we are just going to want something else next. What if you were able to feel better while you are on your way to whatever the it is? Here's my story of pursuing a dream and getting a different – and more valuable – outcome than I anticipated.

Sometimes our brains lead us to believe that the only way to get to where we want to go is to gut it out, use a lot of effort, and never rest. But our brains don't know everything! What if you adopted some regular practices that build slow and incremental into your day or your work? Learn more, and get some ideas for how to slow it down to get you where you are going and maybe even enjoy the journey a bit more.

Sometimes the things that are holding us back from the life we want are borne from little T traumas from our past, even if we do not recognize it in the moment. What worked then might be a barrier now. So what's to be done about it?

We all go through times of feeling like we don't have what we need. Scarcity does a number on our brain. It makes us slower and worse at problem-solving when we most need to have our wits about us. This podcast illuminates what's really going on, offers some clarity on how to sort out what you really need from what you think you need, and some strategies to manage scarcity mindset. And no, the answer isn't "think abundance."

Didn't get the job? The new relationship you thought had long-term potential fizzled? Didn't get the thing that you were going for or hoping would happen? It ray-e-ained on your wedding day (a la Alanis Moressette)? Disappointment is a real part of life, with real brain chemistry that makes it hurt, sometimes without relief. Is the answer to lower your expectations to protect yourself from pain?

How we talk to ourselves and how we frame our thoughts about our circumstances has a defining influence on whether we get what we want. Listen in for some practical suggestions for changing the conversation.

Borrowing from personal finance advice, it's truly in your best interest to do those things daily that set you up for the day/week/year/ life you want to have.