Woo Hoo!! State of Gray was one year old as of January! The blog - aka the reinvention of a 62 year old (when I started working on it) - is about the State of Gray - the state of me and the state of you - now that we’re older.

How are we dealing with it? Are we aging well? How do we do that - is there a trick? What to wear? Where to go? I wanted to start a dialog.

We are all multifaceted humans, and so I wanted the blog to reflect that. Life is not all just about pretty lipstick and beautiful gardens, fabulous travel and the right diet. It’s also about navigating loss and grief and disappointment and ever more, mental health.

I am ten years post Whitten, and have been clawing my way back to a life of some sort. How did that work? What have I learned? There’s good stuff to report and bad stuff to admit.

I try to share all sides and try to be relatable. Like I say on the home page - “Complete honesty. I’m pretty much an open book, always authentic.”

I go there.

Most of us have a positive transformation after we retire or once we are in an empty nest. We reinvent as we all long to be purposeful and relevant, no matter what age we are. We also want to connect with others about the realities of our season of life.

I also believe that what gives meaning to your life changes over time and certainly over circumstances. For many of us, our children give the most meaningful purpose to our lives. How does your life progress when that purpose is taken away? It is not an easy progression, but it is the task at hand.

The blog has grown slowly but steadily, and my readers seem engaged and are starting to connect. Many do not comment here, but rather send me an email or a private message on social media. These days, it seems that to gather a following, you must invest so much time in marketing on Instagram and Facebook - videos, reels, live talks, stories etc. It is frustrating for a new blogger who is still learning the blogging end of it, and I've fretted so.

In the end, I have decided not to worry about enticing everyone and if I am providing something of value, they will come. There just isn't enough time in my life right now to both produce good content and market it where I should. I'm just going to talk about what interests me and what I think might be helpful to others. If they find me, they find me.

I read a beautiful piece on Lyn Slater’s blog, the Accidental Icon. She has retired from teaching and her influencer work in the fashion industry. She moved to upstate NY out of NYC. She is now writing on the blog about aging and is also writing a book. She writes so beautifully…

“In this reinvention time, if I think about beginning something from scratch, it would make me feel frantic about the time left to do it, time to practice, and to live one’s deepest desires. So fraught, you may decide to not do it at all.”

In my reinvention time, I did begin something from scratch. I must be proud of myself for that. I must. I do feel fraught about the time I have left, in which to make some kind of difference - here is a place where I will try to do just that.

And here is another lovely article by Sharon Santoni from My French Country Home, about reinvention. She just turned 64 too.

Thank you all so so much for reading and for your wonderful support this last year. Every time I falter or fail, I get some encouragement or boost from you, that helps me to continue. You are the best readers ever. We are the State of Gray!

**Please take my little survey below about what you like, to help me make it better for everyone!

“When I get older losing my hair, many years from now, will you still be sending me a valentine? 🎶

🎶 Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

Give me your answer, fill in a form, mine forever more. 🎶

🎶 Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?”

……You Know Who

When I listened to that song on my Sergeant Pepper album, I never dreamed I would really ever be 64 years old…

Next up, in keeping with my hygge giveaway theme this month, it’s candle season! I will show you some really great ones you will love! 🕯️ And my trick for helping them burn better and longer.