Welcome to my corner of the internet. This is my space, my voice, and my canvas to explore what it means to reinvent yourself in midlife. If you’ve ever felt like a late bloomer, a perpetual learner with too many interests, or someone carving a new path after life took an unexpected turn, you’re not alone. I hope my journey resonates with you and helps us build a community of curious minds, language learners, and creatives who are just getting started and carving new paths.
🎓 The Philomath: A Lifelong Dance with Learning
Here’s a contradiction that defines me: I’m a high school dropout with a GED, and I also hold a BBA and an MS in Finance. You could call me a highly educated and under-experienced 50-something. I love learning, (maybe too much), and my curiosity pulls me in so many directions it’s like a broken compass spinning wildly. I’m an intellectual omnivore, but if I’m honest, I have a serious case of Shiny Object Syndrome. I want to learn everything but tend to master nothing. Focusing on one task at a time has always been a struggle, which is why this blog exists: it’s my way of working toward correcting that.
My strengths have always been with numbers. I love finding patterns and deciphering the logic behind them. People love to say, “You’ll never use algebra in real life,” but I strongly disagree. I still remember a comic I read years ago where a brother explains algebra through a shopping problem to his sister struggling with math homework. I don’t recall the exact numbers, but it went something like this: If you have $100 to spend, how many sweaters at $20 and pants at $40 can you buy? That’s algebra in everyday life. To this day, I’ll stop scrolling to solve a random math problem that pops up in my social media feed. It’s fun to me. It’s why I relax with Sudoku and logic puzzles, they quiet all the conversations in my head and help me breathe.
💼 The Corporate Exile: Navigating a Non-Traditional Career Path After 50
My love of logic, however, hasn’t translated into a traditional corporate career. I’m currently unemployed, but not for lack of interviews. I often make it to the second or third round, but that elusive “click” hasn’t happened yet. The truth is, I’m not a traditional corporate gal anymore. I was one in my 20s and early 30s, before life-changing events rerouted my path.
Now I struggle to immerse myself in what I’ve always called “corporate-speak”, that bizarre, sanitized language designed to mask reality. All those polite, coded responses feel like the professional equivalent of “bless your heart.” You’ve probably seen the jokes: people getting irritated that a coworker didn’t read an email that probably had the answer they needed, followed by the passive-aggressive “per my last email.” At my last job, I actually giggled during a serious meeting because I was hearing corporate-speak pour out of managers’ mouths for the first time in nearly two decades. I got a few odd stares. Nobody talks like that in the real world.
The older I get, the more work feels less like a financial necessity and more like a way to stay socially connected. My spouse lovingly teases that I could easily become a hermit, since I tend to huddle in my home office for hours at a time. A space I fondly called my hobby room. He’s probably right about the hermit thing.
We recently moved across the country in search of more adventure. It’s been thrilling (though I did lose my hobby room in the process). I’m writing this blog on my new laptop, which has actually cured my habit of doom-scrolling political videos (since originally writing this it has become a lie but I think I am back on track), a small but welcome silver lining. This won’t be a political blog; I’ll save that for another outlet should I need it. But I do miss my real computer. I’ll always prefer a desktop to a paper-thin typing pad.
🌱 Roots of Curiosity: A Lifelong Learner, Rediscovered
I have more passion projects than finished ones, a testament to my easily distracted nature. This blog is, in part, an attempt to regain my focus. To understand why, I look back on my life. I won’t delve into why I dropped out of high school, but I can tell you that even then, I loved learning.
Geology fascinated me. I loved learning about rocks, their types, their stories. I can’t recall the specifics now, but I remember the satisfaction of identifying a rock by sight. My favorite places are mountains, where you can see the layered history of the world laid bare.
Chemistry called to me from the pages of the Sears Christmas Catalog. I always circled the chemistry set. I never got one, but I took several chemistry classes in college and adored them, especially the mathematical elegance of balancing equations. I found immense satisfaction in making both sides equal, satisfying the Law of Conservation of Mass.
History is my most surprising passion. As a kid, I hated it. As an adult in today’s complex climate, I’m fascinated by it. I’ve built a collection of nonfiction books that strive for unbiased, straightforward narratives on US History, the beautiful and the ugly. Although most of my collection is U.S. History, I’ve branched out globally and now have at least one book on various regions of the world. Authors like Ken Follett, with his ‘Century Trilogy’, showed me history through a non-American lens, with characters brushing shoulders with major events like a European Forrest Gump. That shift in perspective was eye-opening.
🧭 A Brief Detour: How I Got My GED
I lived in Latin America during my teenage years. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly a model student. When it was time to move back to the States at 18, I didn’t have enough credits to graduate unless I stayed in high school until my 20s, and that just wasn’t going to happen. So I earned my GED.
The day I finished testing at a community college, the woman overseeing the exam escorted me to the registration desk and told me to sign up for classes. She said there was a shortage of American mathematicians. Maybe I should have listened. But I didn’t, not then. It took me years to find my way back to higher education, but I did. Eventually.
📚 Adult Learning Topics: What Captures My Curiosity Now
These days, my interests are wide-ranging and deeply personal. I’m currently fascinated by:
- Language learning (more on that below)
- Digital art (both 2D and 3D)
- Photography (my goal is to use only my own photos for this blog, though as I write this, I haven’t taken nearly enough)
- Video editing
- Drawing (I create Zen drawings and mandalas from time to time)
- Crochet and hand knitting
History, which I mentioned earlier, has become a more recent passion, so perhaps it belongs here too. I’m proof that you can keep discovering new parts of yourself at any age.
🌏 Learning Korean and Japanese in Midlife: Why Languages Inspire Me
Languages captivate me. I took French in high school (I still remember un peu), and living in Latin America gave me enough Spanish to negotiate a decent price at the market, though I’m far from bilingual.
Right now, my linguistic heart belongs to Korean and Japanese, each for a distinct reason.
- Korean entered my life through K-dramas. I adore the slow-burn storytelling, which is a world apart from the rapid pacing of many Western shows. I can read Hangul now, and sometimes I even understand what I’m reading. But my speaking? Let’s just say I sound like a kindergartner sounding out words. We all have to start somewhere.
- Japanese fascinates me because I want to visit Japan one day. The country seems so beautifully advanced, and I’d love to reconnect with a childhood friend who lives there. Despite our language barriers, we bonded over music, laughter, and bits of Japanese exchanged during class.
💻 The Digital Canvas: New Passions in a Pixelated World
The digital world has unlocked new forms of creativity for me. I genuinely enjoy video editing, despite its frustrations. I started with simple tools like Clipchamp, but I’ve since graduated to DaVinci Resolve. The learning curve is steep, but the control is utterly worth it. I once had a YouTube channel and took down my older videos. The plan is to revive and remake them with Resolve once my desktop computer and I are reunited.
Similarly, ‘3D modeling’ pulls me into its world. I’ve started the famous Blender “donut tutorial” more times than I care to admit. I haven’t finished it. Not once. It’s a perfect symbol of my distracted yet determined nature and improving that focus is exactly why this blog exists.
🎨 From Logic to Creation: Returning to My Creative Self
For all my logical inclinations, art has always been a quiet undercurrent in my life. I never considered myself particularly talented, but I’ve always loved the act of expression. I have so many things I want to practice and learn: drawing, painting, exploring new mediums. Occasionally I draw those Zen-inspired patterns and mandalas to occupy my thoughts and quiet my mind.
I also crochet and knit a little. So far, I’ve only made gifts for immediate family. Right now, I’m halfway through making chunky hand-knit blankets for my kids. They’re grown now, but they’ll always be my kiddos.
💬 Why I’m Here—and Why I Hope You Are Too
This blog is my open journal and my outstretched hand. I can be hard to get to know in person, but here, I can share my passions, my curiosities, and this deep, abiding love of learning. This post only scratches the surface.
So let me ask you: Are you a late-blooming learner too? A multi-potentialite wondering how all your pieces fit together? A creative or language learner starting after 50?
Share your journey in the comments. I’d love to connect and build this community together.