Just Start

I love learning people's origin stories around their passion turned profession.  If you haven't seen Floret Farms or The Lost Kitchen, do yourself a favor and watch one of those documentaries on the next gloomy Saturday.  I don't begin to compare myself to either Erin French (The Lost Kitchen) or Erin Benzakein, (Floret Farms). They are both trailblazers and firmly established in their distinct fields.  I am neither of those things.

What I am is a woman leaning into the uncomfortableness of uncertainty to pursue a creative livelihood in later-middle-life.  As I write this in the summer of 2026 I am 53 years old.  Earlier this year, I left a great job in the HR field, my chosen career for over 12 years.  I enjoy oil painting landscapes above just about every other activity.  And, to me, part of the joy comes from sharing my paintings with others. 

Again, I don't think Netflix would or should be knocking on my door to create the next great documentary anytime soon! I do enjoy organizing my thoughts around this unconventional path, if not only for myself, but maybe also for someone in a similar boat or someone interested in being in a similar boat.  I am thrilled if these posts connect with anyone else out there.  Anyone else out there making a big shift in midlife?  Stepping out of more conventional ways of making money to lean into a gentle tugging you may feel?

I plan on posting my musings biweekly both on Substack and also on my website, stefschroeder.com, as a blog.  I'm not sure that this collection of my thoughts of this journey belongs on both paltforms.  That is to say that I reserve the right to shift midstream.  After all, that's kind of the point.  I do not have a complete route mapped out to my destination.  I don't know that I have a destination!  I am figuring it out along the way, simply taking the next right step.  What does our old pal Rumi say?  "Walk the path and the path will appear".  So, basically, just start (insert what it is your are feeling a gentle tug towards).