Stephanie Raffelock - Creatrix Rising: Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women

PRAISE FOR CREATRIX RISING

Poetic and philosophical, Creatrix Rising will inspire readers to claim the courage and confidence that already lives inside of them. An intimate story of transformation, of journeying through life on your own terms without apology.

Richard Blanco, 2013 Presidential Inaugural Poet and author of How to Love a Country

The disparity between the cultural perception of midlife women and how women actually see themselves has opened the door for a new archetype, the creatrix. In her new book on the theme of positive aging, Creatrix Rising, Stephanie Raffelock offers a reimagining of midlife as the most powerful and creative time in a womans life, celebrating her strengths and redefining her beauty. This is a book that shifts the paradigm of whats possible as women age and ushers in a much-needed cultural transformation that benefits everyone.

Joan Borysenko, PhD, New York Times best-selling author and founding partner of Mind/Body Health Sciences, LLC

PRAISE FOR STEPHANIE RAFFELOCKS A DELIGHTFUL LITTLE BOOK ON AGING

Raffelocks book will be a much-needed boost to readers of all ages. A helpful, uplifting work for readers handling the challenges of growing older.

Kirkus Reviews

Stephanie Raffelock is showcasing the reclamation of aging as a moment of becoming, no longer a dreaded withering into insignificance. A Delightful Little Book on Aging lays down new and beautiful tracks for the journey into our richest, deepest, and wildest years.

Kelly Brogan, MD, author of the New York Times bestseller A Mind of Your Own

This little book by Stephanie Raffelock unfolds gently. Like aging, it is raw and funny and quirky. It is not five easy steps but real stories and wisdom. It is resilience in action, acknowledging losses and unwanted changes of aging with moxie, humor, and grit.

Frederic Luskin, PhD, cofounder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good and Forgive for Love

Deeply compassionate, eminently readable, and filled with timeless wisdom and unbridled joy. Stephanie Raffelock will be your favorite new discovery. Youre welcome.

Jonny Bowden, board-certified nutritionist and best-selling author of Living Low Carb and The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth

Filled with authentic stories and abundant insights, A Delightful Little Book on Aging is a heartwarming companion for anybody who wishes to age without sugarcoating the losses while continuing to live life with an open spirit. Stephanie Raffelock makes me look forward to my own golden years. Well done!

Andrea F. Polard, author of A Unified Theory of Happiness

Copyright 2021, Stephanie Raffelock

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address She Writes Press.

Published 2021

Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN: 978-1-64742-163-2 (paperback)

Print ISBN: 978-1-64742-318-6 (hardcover)

E-ISBN: 978-1-64742-164-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021903496

For information, address:

She Writes Press

1569 Solano Ave #546

Berkeley, CA 94707

Cover and interior design by Tabitha Lahr

She Writes Press is a division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC.

All company and/or product names may be trade names, logos, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks and are the property of their respective owners.

Names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the privacy of certain individuals.

For Eva, Julia, and Cleopha

T his is an extraordinary and significant time in feminist history. Women are starting to see the creative potential in their midlife years and beyond. Moreover, women are embracing this creativity in part because age is no longer seen as a burden but as an asset. Experience and hard-won wisdom count for something. Moreover, the women I know are exploring a deeper beauty. More than painting a pretty picture, this deeper beauty accentuates the qualities of their hearts and souls.

I wrote Creatrix Rising: Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women because I believe in you, the midlife woman who is emerging into this new time in history. I believe that womens struggle to gain equality has been courageous and in many ways victorious. And I think its time we acknowledge our feminist history not just in the larger world, but in our own families and our own lives. Women have long been the keepers of stories, and the stories of women hold great power and great promise. When we reflect upon where we are in life, and where weve been, it can help us to map the journey forward.

I want to tell the story of what Im seeing and feeling, and what I know to be a shared experience: midlife women actively claiming their greatness and standing in the light of leadership. Weve walked a path from darkness into a bright new world, in spite of the obstacles weve faced. And now its time to throw the stake into the ground and claim that we are reborn in all of our womanly glory.

I wrote this book in what will forever be known as the time of the Coronavirus pandemic. Few lives have been untouched by this momentous event. In the film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy has a moment where she picks up her little dog and remarks, Toto, Ive a feeling were not in Kansas anymore. If Im no longer in Kansas, where the hell am I?

Change and creativity often grow from the mud of chaos. The word social in social upheaval implies that the course of direction is being altered by many groups. And that has been true during the time of Coronavirus. When the history is written about these times, the pandemic will be a marker for a great awakening of social issues. There is one event that feels especially important to me. Its positive, remarkable, and, in my eyes, quite extraordinary: the emergence of a new kind of woman, a new set of archetypal qualities assigned to women. It didnt start during the pandemic, but it did bloom. Whats different about this particular evolution is that we are defining what those emerging qualities are, and we are owning them.

A new kind of woman isnt new in the sense that weve all been working toward a time when we would not be shy about our confidence or our power. Weve all been working toward greater equality, while claiming the power within ourselves. But now weve hit a tipping point, a point of no return. We can never go back to qualities of coyness, submission, or silence as once assigned to us by the patriarchy. In fact, I think we are seeing a leveling of the playing field when it comes to the importance and impact of the matriarch and patriarchy, a kind of peaceful fairness that is settling over our culture in profound ways. Its not that we dont still have work to do, but women have definitely arrived!