Just a stage

Sometimes in the past few years, I have felt hopeless, lost and even wondered if it was worth my being here at all. Some of the questions I have asked myself have been pretty deep. But through speaking and listening to other women in similar situations, I realise this is all NORMAL! ...

More

Menopause does NOT define us!

What is my purpose?
Many women ask this question in different ways around the age of 50 or 60.
Where shall I live? What should I do? I feel restless and unsettled, I’d like to travel…. I need a change but I’m afraid....

More

“…never fully satisfied. This is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. The real work is to become silent, to gently push aside and quiet the many voices that question your goodness (and to trust the voice inside that says you are already beloved).”

Henri J.M. Nouwen

The ancient Greeks believed that, with constant dialogue and honest sharing, friends could reach a higher truth
together. Women have gathered, through time immemorial, to talk, share and console.” 

Joan Anderson

“For it is surely a lifetime of work, this learning to be a woman.”  

May Sarton

“Tell your story. Shout it. Write it. Whisper it if you have to. But tell it. Some won’t understand it. Some will outright reject it. But many will thank you for it. And then the most magical thing will happen. One by one, voices will start whispering, ‘Me, too.’ And your tribe will gather. And you will never feel alone again.”

L. R. Knost

“We’re still living with the old paradigm of age as an arch. That’s the old metaphor: you’re born, you peak at midlife and decline into decrepitude. A more appropriate metaphor is a staircase. The upward ascension of the human spirit, bringing us into wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.”

Jane Fonda

“It’s funny how finding yourself as an adult often leads to getting back to who you once were as a child, before the world got its hands on you. Bring her back”

"aging is out of your control. how you handle it though, is in your hands."

Diane Von Furstenberg

Something About Kate

Anywhere I go on this planet, people tell me I talk funny, so let’s deal with that first. I am a Kiwi/Canadian/Australian with a hybrid accent. I was also a wife, I’m a mum and I’ve had a few careers, including nursing and business – but what REALLY lights me up is working with women.

Women are amazing, multitalented, resilient and loving people. If only we were better at remembering all that about ourselves!

Like you, I’m of an age when change has been thrust upon me. In a short space of time, my marriage ended, I was unemployed, my home was changing, my parents were aging and my 3 children were learning to be independent. I was finding spaces in my life that hadn’t been there for years. I took up running, I read and I love to travel. I discovered a passion for cars and driving, and I went back to gardening on a small scale. But I was unsettled, often unhappy and searching. I was also hearing from other women around this age that they were... Read More

Upcoming Events

WHAT WOMEN HAVE SAID ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

“I feel I have found a place for me in my life and I’m driven to encourage others to find their way out of stagnation.”

“I had the perception that, because I was changing and life around me was changing – you know, like the kids moving out, a husband retiring, menopause, even a debilitating illness – the me inside would automatically change. But that proved false.”
“I came to see it would take time to truly shed the roles and empty out the past. We women can never really declare that we have retired, can we?”
“I could never do that work in the midst of my life. I needed to retreat.”

“I came home from my weekend changed. I felt more confident. But it was even more than that. It was like a part of me had been awakened after a deep, complete sleep. Until then, I had been scattered and strewn about. Pieces of me – wife, mother, daughter, friend – were all there, but there were also gaping holes. Where were the missing pieces? That was scary to me because what would those pieces be like if and when I found them? More than that, were there any pieces to find?”

“I can only explain it as something more than an everyday regaining of consciousness – I had transcended the mundane. It had become clear what I had to do. In fact, I felt a little silly that I hadn’t been able to see my future as clearly before. For so long, I had felt something was missing.
When I woke up that day, that weight had lifted and was replaced with an urge to take control and move on. I was happy because I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew I was strong enough to do it.
Deep down, I knew I wanted to stop being just what everyone wanted me to be; now I also knew that I could make whatever changes I had to, because I was happy inside.”