In accord with F. Scott Fitzgerald, “it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be.”

Spring is filled with images of rebirth, renewal, and transformation, and self-discovery is not something limited to your 20s and 30s, and we at Studio10 believe you are never too old to reinvent and (re)discover yourself.

For instance, Sue Shellenbarger’s The Breaking Point: How Female Mid-life Crisis is Transforming Today’s Women, documents the paradigmatic shift that has occurred in regards to women’s attitudes towards to mid-life—that is, mid-life being seen as a time of self-transformation as opposed to self-erasure.

Shellenbarger affirms that “the vital juices of joy, sexuality, and self-discovery are bubbling within, more powerfully and compellingly than ever” at midlife. Consequently, when women reach middle age and are liberated from the constraints of their youth, parental obligations, and the aesthetic and behavioural expectations of youth, they may experience a shock of self-recognition and the compulsion to metaphorically shed their skin and begin afresh.

Popular culture often mocks the transitions and transformations that may occur upon reaching midlife (i.e. the stereotypical “mid-life crisis”), but as The Breaking Point highlights how “midlife crisis bring traits, needs, or desires that have been repressed or ignored roaring back on centre stage in one’s personality. We strive at mid-life to integrate the pieces of ourselves that we have been missing—to become whole.” In so doing, we may acquire a greater understanding of both our limits and from that a new sense of meaning and direction.

Mid-life may mark a turning point, or the time when we may feel confident enough to move beyond our comfort zones—from seeking to pursue a new career, meet new people, change our appearance or even seek to radically overhaul our personality and become the who we want to be as opposed to who others have always wanted or expected us to be.

What changes have you sought to make upon reaching middle-age?

How have you challenged yourself to change?

This article first appeared on the Studio10 website