Dear Suzy, I took the leap two years ago when I quit my successful job as a legislative advisor in Buenos Aires and joined my daughter in Paris, where she was studying, to live my own literary adventure. I also took the leap in 1993, when I moved to London with my English boyfriend. We had a daughter, but the relationship ended abruptly when he decided to leave me while I was in Argentina after my father's death. It took me almost 20 years to get the courage to go back to London. It was 2014. The plan was a two-week visit, but I stayed for almost three months. It was on that trip that I discovered Psychologies magazine, and I became addicted. After that trip, I went back to London very often, and the first thing I did was to buy the magazine. I still do, but I haven’t enjoyed it that much lately. Today, I learned that you were the editor of the magazine until 2021. Now I understand. The magazine is not the same without you! Happy to have found you in Substack!
How fantastic to connect here!!! And thank you for your beautiful words about Psychologies - just the best magazine ever. I was there for 8 years and it was so lovely - my work family were my dearest friends. I miss them. But happy to be rebuilding here on substack. x
What a life Suzy! And a brave move. I’m looking to start again - again! In a new place in the next couple of years when my daughter goes off to uni. I’m still chewing it over but I am nervous!
I'm ashamed to say I have not made the most of my subscription with you - in fact I have not done very much with my writing full stop - so I just jotted down what I am thinking and was hoping you could point me in the right direction if you think this would be a good idea or not?
Let me have your take on my Substack history; I have been here since October 2023 and am really enjoying writing stuff on a regular basis, I started with ‘You Can Do Anything’ perhaps foolishly thinking I could create something with a part-written book that was the story of my crashing out of corporate life and being re-born as a more creative person in my 60’s. I wanted to inspire the unconventional flock to do the same….
You Can Do Anything
* Weekly blog/mental health/stories/factual
* Launched September 2023
* Free
* 187 Subscribers
* Some images
* Mainly 2-4 minute reads
18 months on, I want to branch out and develop other strands to my writing, still continuing with You Can Do Anything, but adding a paid-for fictional channel that would be a home for imagination and creativity in a more anonymous wrapper. I want to celebrate the beauty that is all around us with some of my photographic images but perhaps write fictional characters and situations with each image or set of images around their content.
Beauty is all around us
* Fictional stories inspired by images - a home for more creative writing
* Planning to launch around now - Feb 2025
* Set up as paid - £4/month
* TBC subscriptions
* No set frequency - TBC
* Format - TBC
shall I just do it?
It's a leap into the unknown and I think I need a second outlet......any feedback would be much appreciated, thanks
I love this idea. Dickens used to publish his novels in chapters versus books. You could create a story/universe where we slowly get to know the characters and give us a gripping story line to follow. 'Celebrate beauty around us' is a lovely theme but don't forget the plot. What's the premise in one sentence? Who are the characters? What do they think they want? What do they really need? What's in the way? Up the stakes? How do they characters develop? How can you show not tell the story? Look at Paulo Coelho for inspiration. He writes beautiful novels with a meaning and 'a lesson'. Should you just do it? I'm a great believer in just doing it and then seeing where it takes you. Let go of any outcome. Write a gripping story and people will be drawn to find out what happens next. Watch great drama on TV. I've just finished watching the first series of Bad Sisters on Apple TV - dark comedy but brilliant.
Thanks Suzy - really appreciate the comments; you have got me thinking and certainly some great points to consider before I even start; I like the idea of linking the stories and characters, I have been working on a few themes this week and have expanded the framework with some thoughts on showing and not telling. lots more to do before I push the button, want to have a few threads going from day one.... as for bad sisters - yep I loved it and series 2 had a real twist!
Hi Suzy, lovely to see that you're back with a newsletter. I've left London too and moved to the sea (folkestone) and also retrained as a psychotherapist. You can have adventures after 50!
That would be amazing, I saw your interview with James Sills and was thinking about how learning/studying makes me happy and fulfils so many human needs.
I was also a big ‘Psychologies’ fan! And I love discovering just how many 50-something women, in particular, are folding up the washing up gloves after kids have flown the nest and saying, ‘Ok, my turn!’ I did the same.
My younger son had finished uni, got a job, although was back in the family home as so many young adults were after 2020. Husband and I realised that if we didn’t leave the nest, we’d end up dying in it, and we wanted our Third Act too.
So here we are, in Portugal. I still teach but now online and with a timetable I create. I co-run a writers’ group here in Porto. Husband and I get to walk on our local (usually empty until July/August) beach most days. We have a close group of friends from around the world we can meet for food, walks, long talks through warm evenings. It’s a life defined by its simplicity, its calm (there are stresses but that’s the subject of my next ‘Letter’!) but mostly by its richness. I’m so happy Substack is such a healthy space for folks like us!
It might sound small but this Friday I am going to ask my manager if I can condense my hours into four days. I’ve been working Monday - Friday for nearly two years now with two toddlers to look after and I crave space to explore what my life leaps will be! Painting and jewellery making on my day off perhaps!! I absolutely love my job so my leaps will be around it if that makes sense 😊xx
Working and looking after our children - it's hard work. So to carve time for you will be fantastic. The painting you gave me has made it to my apartment in Alnwick and I love it. You are such a talented painter. Jewellery? Yes, I'd love to see that.
My three year old granddaughter makes my heart leap. Anna was diagnosed with Autism last year and things have not been easy for her, but she is the most beautiful and happy soul. She begins her school journey in September after we found the perfect school who were able to support her needs. We take each big step as it comes and we as a family mam, dad, big brother and grandparents will do our best to support her.
Aah Suzy this speaks to me in so many ways. A couple of years ago I 'leapt' away from my career as an air traffic controller, sold my house, and after 2 decades in a high flying career in aviation which was sheared with the tragic death of my brother, and then my dad, I found my peace. Life is still busy as a parent to two teenage daughters, but I now quietly run my own business - at my pace - and have just finished my first book. My leap was metaphoric and physical and I also found the cold water at the same time, and it has been such a transformative force in my life. I'm delighted to be in this community x
Wow, that's quite a journey. I'm so sorry to hear about your brother and dad . What's your business and what's your book abut? Welcome to The Heart Leap Club.
I'm so pleased to be here. My business is a coaching business, but the books are my priority at the moment! Women and water is the first one, and the second one is about shared storytelling and tea... Thinking I might now start a substack to start talking about it all!
I don't know about leap for me. Recently widowed, after my last career change - five year stretch as unpaid caregiver - it feels more like the road I was on for a very long time has run out, and now I'm in a completely different world where I'm not even sure that they have roads. Or leaps. Perhaps I am starting something new in the same sense that one wakes up from a vivid dream, not being sure whether that was reality, but knowing that it's time for this version in any case.
This so resonates with me. I’m glad I woke up at 4.45 this morning to see your invitation to write at 9am… I’ve been studying personal development for 30 years and finished my psychotherapist training in 2000 and became a coach after that… I’ve always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was 12… I’ve joined this sub stack to give myself space to write and to be inspired. Thankyou…
Dear Suzy, I took the leap two years ago when I quit my successful job as a legislative advisor in Buenos Aires and joined my daughter in Paris, where she was studying, to live my own literary adventure. I also took the leap in 1993, when I moved to London with my English boyfriend. We had a daughter, but the relationship ended abruptly when he decided to leave me while I was in Argentina after my father's death. It took me almost 20 years to get the courage to go back to London. It was 2014. The plan was a two-week visit, but I stayed for almost three months. It was on that trip that I discovered Psychologies magazine, and I became addicted. After that trip, I went back to London very often, and the first thing I did was to buy the magazine. I still do, but I haven’t enjoyed it that much lately. Today, I learned that you were the editor of the magazine until 2021. Now I understand. The magazine is not the same without you! Happy to have found you in Substack!
How fantastic to connect here!!! And thank you for your beautiful words about Psychologies - just the best magazine ever. I was there for 8 years and it was so lovely - my work family were my dearest friends. I miss them. But happy to be rebuilding here on substack. x
What a life Suzy! And a brave move. I’m looking to start again - again! In a new place in the next couple of years when my daughter goes off to uni. I’m still chewing it over but I am nervous!
yes, it definitely scary. And it takes a while to build up a new community of friends. Where do you want to go?
Wow!!
It is serendipitous that I sat down to have a quick scan of Notes and saw Claire's post 💖
Love love your article!
I am in!!
Currently in what I call my 'Third Act'
Newbie writer. Life through a kindness Lens. Helping people be well - so they can thrive now and as we hurtle towards the future 🙏
All the best with your new move! The coast looks lovely 🙏
Hi Suzy, how you doing?
I'm ashamed to say I have not made the most of my subscription with you - in fact I have not done very much with my writing full stop - so I just jotted down what I am thinking and was hoping you could point me in the right direction if you think this would be a good idea or not?
Let me have your take on my Substack history; I have been here since October 2023 and am really enjoying writing stuff on a regular basis, I started with ‘You Can Do Anything’ perhaps foolishly thinking I could create something with a part-written book that was the story of my crashing out of corporate life and being re-born as a more creative person in my 60’s. I wanted to inspire the unconventional flock to do the same….
You Can Do Anything
* Weekly blog/mental health/stories/factual
* Launched September 2023
* Free
* 187 Subscribers
* Some images
* Mainly 2-4 minute reads
18 months on, I want to branch out and develop other strands to my writing, still continuing with You Can Do Anything, but adding a paid-for fictional channel that would be a home for imagination and creativity in a more anonymous wrapper. I want to celebrate the beauty that is all around us with some of my photographic images but perhaps write fictional characters and situations with each image or set of images around their content.
Beauty is all around us
* Fictional stories inspired by images - a home for more creative writing
* Planning to launch around now - Feb 2025
* Set up as paid - £4/month
* TBC subscriptions
* No set frequency - TBC
* Format - TBC
shall I just do it?
It's a leap into the unknown and I think I need a second outlet......any feedback would be much appreciated, thanks
Chris
I love this idea. Dickens used to publish his novels in chapters versus books. You could create a story/universe where we slowly get to know the characters and give us a gripping story line to follow. 'Celebrate beauty around us' is a lovely theme but don't forget the plot. What's the premise in one sentence? Who are the characters? What do they think they want? What do they really need? What's in the way? Up the stakes? How do they characters develop? How can you show not tell the story? Look at Paulo Coelho for inspiration. He writes beautiful novels with a meaning and 'a lesson'. Should you just do it? I'm a great believer in just doing it and then seeing where it takes you. Let go of any outcome. Write a gripping story and people will be drawn to find out what happens next. Watch great drama on TV. I've just finished watching the first series of Bad Sisters on Apple TV - dark comedy but brilliant.
Thanks Suzy - really appreciate the comments; you have got me thinking and certainly some great points to consider before I even start; I like the idea of linking the stories and characters, I have been working on a few themes this week and have expanded the framework with some thoughts on showing and not telling. lots more to do before I push the button, want to have a few threads going from day one.... as for bad sisters - yep I loved it and series 2 had a real twist!
Look forward to reading your first substack
It’s out there - Wilfred and Hilda, give me some honest feedback 😀
Thank you for sharing this. I, too, and beginning again, and what a gift!❤️
Yes, it is such a gift. And so much learning, growth, fun
Hi Suzy, lovely to see that you're back with a newsletter. I've left London too and moved to the sea (folkestone) and also retrained as a psychotherapist. You can have adventures after 50!
wow, that's fantastic, Paula. I should interview you. x
That would be amazing, I saw your interview with James Sills and was thinking about how learning/studying makes me happy and fulfils so many human needs.
I was also a big ‘Psychologies’ fan! And I love discovering just how many 50-something women, in particular, are folding up the washing up gloves after kids have flown the nest and saying, ‘Ok, my turn!’ I did the same.
My younger son had finished uni, got a job, although was back in the family home as so many young adults were after 2020. Husband and I realised that if we didn’t leave the nest, we’d end up dying in it, and we wanted our Third Act too.
So here we are, in Portugal. I still teach but now online and with a timetable I create. I co-run a writers’ group here in Porto. Husband and I get to walk on our local (usually empty until July/August) beach most days. We have a close group of friends from around the world we can meet for food, walks, long talks through warm evenings. It’s a life defined by its simplicity, its calm (there are stresses but that’s the subject of my next ‘Letter’!) but mostly by its richness. I’m so happy Substack is such a healthy space for folks like us!
That sounds like an amazing life. How utterly fabulous. And it's great to 'name' this third act and commit to a new life—our way!
Wow, 🤩 I’m hooked already
You can do anything
Business= ick
I like it
brilliant - welcome to Heart Leap!
Very inspiring, thanks Suzy!
It might sound small but this Friday I am going to ask my manager if I can condense my hours into four days. I’ve been working Monday - Friday for nearly two years now with two toddlers to look after and I crave space to explore what my life leaps will be! Painting and jewellery making on my day off perhaps!! I absolutely love my job so my leaps will be around it if that makes sense 😊xx
Working and looking after our children - it's hard work. So to carve time for you will be fantastic. The painting you gave me has made it to my apartment in Alnwick and I love it. You are such a talented painter. Jewellery? Yes, I'd love to see that.
My three year old granddaughter makes my heart leap. Anna was diagnosed with Autism last year and things have not been easy for her, but she is the most beautiful and happy soul. She begins her school journey in September after we found the perfect school who were able to support her needs. We take each big step as it comes and we as a family mam, dad, big brother and grandparents will do our best to support her.
A beautiful, happy soul! I'm so glad you've found a good school that can support her. Bliss to have a granddaughter who makes your heart leap.
Aah Suzy this speaks to me in so many ways. A couple of years ago I 'leapt' away from my career as an air traffic controller, sold my house, and after 2 decades in a high flying career in aviation which was sheared with the tragic death of my brother, and then my dad, I found my peace. Life is still busy as a parent to two teenage daughters, but I now quietly run my own business - at my pace - and have just finished my first book. My leap was metaphoric and physical and I also found the cold water at the same time, and it has been such a transformative force in my life. I'm delighted to be in this community x
Wow, that's quite a journey. I'm so sorry to hear about your brother and dad . What's your business and what's your book abut? Welcome to The Heart Leap Club.
I'm so pleased to be here. My business is a coaching business, but the books are my priority at the moment! Women and water is the first one, and the second one is about shared storytelling and tea... Thinking I might now start a substack to start talking about it all!
How wonderful!!! Is your book on Amazon? I’d love to read about cold water ?!
Oh thanks so much! It’s not out yet - the whole publishing process is just so slow!! I do updates on my Substack so you can follow progress there 🥰
Lovely ❤️ (and so sorry for your losses) x
Thank you Eve and thank you for subscribing x
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Love the 'silent sky'. So sorry about your friend x
I don't know about leap for me. Recently widowed, after my last career change - five year stretch as unpaid caregiver - it feels more like the road I was on for a very long time has run out, and now I'm in a completely different world where I'm not even sure that they have roads. Or leaps. Perhaps I am starting something new in the same sense that one wakes up from a vivid dream, not being sure whether that was reality, but knowing that it's time for this version in any case.
Baby steps? I'm a great believer in baby steps. I'm sorry for your loss. You are grieving so give yourself time and space to get your energy back.
Strongs John. It can't be easy but i guess there is only 1 way, and that is forward..
This so resonates with me. I’m glad I woke up at 4.45 this morning to see your invitation to write at 9am… I’ve been studying personal development for 30 years and finished my psychotherapist training in 2000 and became a coach after that… I’ve always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was 12… I’ve joined this sub stack to give myself space to write and to be inspired. Thankyou…
That's wonderful Maxine, I'm so glad you're joining us. See you at 9am. x
I’m having a problem finding the zoom link?!?
So glad you joined us. x