MIDLIFE ISN'T ABOUT FOMO - IT'S ABOUT BELONGING

Why community matters in our midlife and later years....

Hello lovely people!

I hope this very first edition of the 2026 45 Not Out newsletter finds you well and warm? And that you had the Christmas and New Year you wished for.

So, we’ve been pitchforked into a new year and no doubt you’ve set your goals and intentions.

I’ve set one or two, but one of the main ones for me is to grow the community of 45 Not Out, over all it’s platforms. That means the Facebook group and this newsletter - but more on these later in the newsletter.

It became very clear to me in the last few months of last year that community at this stage in our lives is so very important.

Let me explain….

One of the quieter shifts many women experience in midlife is connection.

Somewhere between careers, caring responsibilities, changing bodies, menopause, reinvention (or all of the above), friendships can drift and circles can shrink. Not dramatically. Just subtly. Until one day you realise you feel a little less anchored than you once did.

Yet our need for connection doesn’t fade as we get older

As we get on in age, things in our life change considerably. We become empty nesters, carers for parents or other family members and do all this against a background of major hormonal upheaval and the physical and psychological changes we experience.

It can be a complete circus, can’t it? But, circumnavigating all the waves that life throws us can be made so much easier if we have our tribe around us.

There is something profoundly reassuring about being in spaces with women who get it.
Women who understand the mix of strength and vulnerability this stage of life can bring.
Women who don’t rush to fix, judge or compare — they simply listen and say, “me too.”

Research shows that strong social connections reduce stress, support emotional resilience and improve overall wellbeing. But beyond the science, there’s something just as important:
the relief of knowing you’re not imagining it, failing at it, or falling behind.

Your tribe doesn’t have to be big.
It just has to be real.

A true community is one where you can show up exactly as you are — hopeful, tired, curious, uncertain — and still feel you belong.

That belief sits at the heart of 45 Not Out.
It was created as a space for women aged 45+ who are navigating midlife with honesty, courage and curiosity, and who don’t want to do it alone.

If you’ve been craving deeper connection or a sense of being understood at this stage of life, know this:
you are not alone — even when it feels that way.

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Knowing how important community is to women in mid-life, one of the first things I did when I started 45 Not Out all those years ago, was to instigate a PRIVATE, inclusive Facebook group, that has become the beating heart of 45 Not Out.

It’s a very safe space that has grown to almost 270 fab women members who think like you do. And it’s become the beating heart of 45 Not Out. And because it’s a closed (private) group what goes on in the group stays in the group.

And it’s become the most lovely space to kick back and chat/moan/cheer - whatever members feel like doing.

And membership is open to the right sort of fab, sassy ladies that are reading this newsletter. If this is you and you think you fit the bill and would welcome a bit of like-minded women across your Facebook scroll, then you apply to join the group here -

And if you join up now, you can download my e-book for free - How To Be A Vital Woman - usually priced at £4.99.

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So that’ll be a wrap from me. I hope all my mutterings above resonate with you and you got something out of it.

Meanwhile stay safe, warm and well and I’ll see you next week

Take care

Una x