{"id":1923,"date":"2015-12-07T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?p=1923"},"modified":"2015-12-04T14:18:35","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T19:18:35","slug":"midlife-questioning-one-writers-path-to-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2015\/12\/midlife-questioning-one-writers-path-to-learning.html","title":{"rendered":"Midlife Questioning:\u00a0One Writer\u2019s Path to Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Nessa McCasey<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m not exactly sure when I would mark my midlife as beginning, I do know that I have been searching for inner fulfillment for some time. Time and again, I have felt the need to listen to my deepest desires, particularly as I have become more aware of a finite period for my life. Simply the title of Dawna Markova\u2019s book, “I Will Not Die An Unlived Life” is an inspiration. I want to live my life fully, according to my passions and sense of purpose. And of course, it is only through searching my heart that I will know the next step on that path.<\/p>\n

For me, writing has always been the perfect way to find answers of all kinds, for both internal and external knowledge. Earlier in my life, as a corporate writer and editor, I found that I was continually engaged in learning, and I loved that! I once boasted that I had come upon the fount of continuing education \u2014 learning on the job! I learned about the U.S. space industry and planetary research as I edited presentations by scientists and worked with NASA personnel. When I was employed by a business software company, I learned about many aspects of business, calling it my own “Master of Business Administration.” Now that I am learning about dementia and the issues around memory loss as I face their effects on my father, I am led intuitively to research and then write about it.<\/p>\n

I tell you this not so that you will be impressed with my knowledge, but to share with you my firm belief that writing is a process for learning. In this Age of Information, there is one absolute expertise that we each have \u2014 ourselves. The truths that I hold within myself are precisely true for me. No one else can truly know these until I share them. I might not even truly understand them until I explore them. And this is the value of QUESTIONS.<\/p>\n

I expect that on the day that I die, I will still have questions. In the meantime, I continue to explore my life and the world around me. Midlife \u2014 what does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? We can start with a question that might seem a little out of the ordinary:<\/p>\n