THE MIDLIFE EDIT PODCAST
Hold The Pen
Whose handwriting is in your story?
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION
When did you stop asking what you want?
When was the last time you made a decision nobody else influenced?
Not your husband. Not your kids. Not your parents. Not your boss, your friends, social media, money—or the imaginary audience in your head.
Just you.
In Hold the Pen, Jen asks what happens when a thousand tiny compromises, permission checks, apologies, and perfectly reasonable decisions slowly add up to something bigger:
Someone else starts writing your story.
Maybe you weren't lost at all.
Maybe somewhere along the way, you simply forgot you were allowed to hold the pen.
IN THIS EPISODE
The tiny decisions that reveal how often we look for permission
Why handing over the pen usually happens gradually—not all at once
The difference between asking “What do I want?” and “Am I allowed?”
Why women can become supporting characters in their own stories
How inherited expectations start to feel like our own handwriting
What The Midlife Edit is really about: deciding what stays and what goes
A simple one-week “pen test” to start recognizing which choices are actually yours
“Somewhere along the way I forgot I was allowed to hold the pen.”
YOUR EDIT THIS WEEK
Take The Pen Test
For one week, before you make a decision—big or small—ask yourself:
Would I still choose this if nobody else's opinion existed?
What you wear.
What you eat.
Whether you say yes.
Whether you say no.
The meeting you agree to. The thing you buy. The thing you don't buy. The apology you're about to make. The rest you think you need to earn.
You don't even have to change your answer yet.
Just notice.
Because some answers may surprise you. Others might confirm that you've been writing that sentence yourself all along.
Either way, you'll start recognizing whose handwriting it is.
KEEP LISTENING
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Explore more episodes of The Midlife Edit — real conversations about reinvention, identity, creativity, midlife, and becoming whoever the hell you're becoming next.