⭐ Micro-Essay: Chosen February 02, 2026Susan Lehmkuhl Valentine’s Day has never really been my thing. It’s always felt more commercial than meaningful—love condensed into price tags, expectations, and a single sanctioned day. I’ve always preferred showing affection...
⭐ Micro-Essay: She Chose Herself January 26, 2026Susan Lehmkuhl She didn’t arrive at this version of herself by chance. She was shaped by years of being treated as interchangeable, by moments when her presence was taken for granted and...
⭐ Micro-Essay: The Magic of Becoming Your Own Safe Place December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl There comes a moment in midlife when you stop searching for someone to rescue you.You stop waiting for someone else to soothe the ache, explain the heartbreak, or solve the...
⭐ Micro-Essay: When Life Forces a Reset December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl Sometimes the universe doesn’t nudge—it shoves.It hands you a diagnosis, or a heartbreak, or an ending you never saw coming.It rearranges your world without warning, without permission. And suddenly, you’re...
⭐ Micro Essay: The Art of Protecting Your Peace December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl After 50, peace becomes priceless—and you finally understand why. You know exactly who drains you.Who exhausts you.Who takes without giving.Who brings chaos disguised as charm.Who mistakes your empathy for weakness....
⭐ Micro Essay: The Courage of Being Seen Again December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl After heartbreak, loss, or divorce, stepping back into the world requires a kind of courage no one talks about. You’re carrying history now—grief, growth, lessons, scars.You’re not the same person...
⭐ Micro Essay: The Myth of “Too Late” December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl If “too late” were real, people wouldn’t discover soulmates at 88.They wouldn’t launch businesses after retirement.They wouldn’t write their first book at 63 or travel solo for the first time...
⭐ Micro Essay: What Happens When You Choose Yourself December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl Choosing yourself sounds empowering—until you do it.Then you realize it’s equal parts liberation and loss. You lose people.Let’s be honest.The moment you stop over-giving, stop absorbing everyone’s pain, stop saying...
⭐ Micro Essay: The Beauty of Not Having It Figured Out December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl There’s a strange freedom that arrives after 50.Not knowing your next chapter no longer feels like failure—it feels like possibility. Life blows up the plan.Relationships shift.Work changes.Dreams evolve. And suddenly…...
⭐ Micro Essay: When Your Body Becomes a Teacher December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl At some point, your body stops whispering and starts teaching. Heart flutters.Chronic fatigue.A doctor raising an eyebrow at your blood pressure.A cough that refuses to be ignored. It feels like...
⭐ Micro Essay: The Slow Burn of Healing December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl Healing after 50 isn’t dramatic.It’s rarely a breakthrough moment or a cinematic epiphany.It’s the slow, stubborn burn—the way one morning you wake up and notice your chest doesn’t tighten quite...
⭐ Micro Essay: The Year You Stop Asking for Permission December 02, 2025Susan Lehmkuhl Something happens in your fifties that no one prepares you for:The world’s opinions start mattering a whole lot less. Suddenly, you stop apologizing for being too much—or not enough.You stop...