"I'm Too Old For This" — Said Absolutely No One in This Story
Postcards from revolutionary women ditching the ageing rulebook 💌
It started with a simple call-out: I asked to hear from women who were going rogue, turning ageing as we know it upside down.
What happened next was extraordinary. Over 100 women shared their stories—raw, real, and revolutionary.
That's how The Postcard Project was born. A chronicle of women who are irreversibly changing the ageing narrative, transforming what was once viewed as a wasteland into a landscape rich with possibility.
Why These Stories Matter
What is it about seeing women rewrite the playbook on ageing that's so utterly contagious, and even intoxicating?
Is it the passion, the kick arse determination, the refusal to be pigeonholed, the sense of freedom to be 'who we really are', or 'who we've always been'?
Yes, that's all part of it, at least for me. But there's something even more profound at work.
Pioneering Change
When we hear about women changing the rulebook, there's the vicarious thrill of pioneering. What we see are entirely new worlds opening up—not just for the storytellers, but for ourselves, and ultimately for society itself. Each story ripples outward, challenging assumptions and reshaping cultural narratives about what's possible after 50.
As ageing is reinvented, roads are being forged, now and for the generations who follow us.
What a thrill to witness history in the making—a life stage being reinvented at what seems to be exhilarating speed.
Not surprising when you think this is all brought to you by the same women who led the invention of teenage-hood and the Women's Movement. Let's face it, this shape-shifting cohort of women, now aged 50-90, were never going to take ageing lying down.
Yet this thrilling societal change is so hopelessly—and shamefully!—under-reported and underrepresented in the media.
That's exactly why we need to tell these stories. One postcard, one voice, one revolution at a time.
Meet the Trailblazers:
Part Two of the Postcard Project
Following on from our first set of amazing stories in our Ageing in Colour issue, I could not be more excited to share Part Two of The Postcard Project.
I’m especially loving the themes here, so many of them around transformation and big-time pivots. We’re talking entirely new careers, chasing childhood passions, and even reimagining life itself, and finally finding your groove.
Many of the stories are from women answering a call for the nomadic life. Whether it's to chase waterfalls and wellness; or hitting the road, often indefinitely: one woman, one suitcase and a vision.
Some are on a mission to experience the world, while others want to change the world, farm to farm, wilderness to wilderness, restoring 'soil and souls' along the way.
And then there's the final postcard in this set. Brave and beautiful, I still feel so honoured that it was shared with me. It's a message from a mermaid that will stay with me for life.
The Postcard Project 💌
Nicole Piper
Linda Hoenigsberg
Jada Butler
Robin Motzer
Patricia Rose
Aurélie
Dana Leigh Lyons
Debbie Hudzik
Linda Naylor
A Message From a Mermaid 🧜♀️ 💌
Some of the stories will stay with you a long time, and some never leave you. The story Peta Gilbert shared was definitely a case of the latter.
Hit by the curved ball of an invasive breast cancer diagnosis, and making the difficult decision to have a double mastectomy, Peta opted for 'aesthetic' flat closure—or simply 'going flat'.
Breast cancer and breast surgery is surely one of the most difficult journeys a woman can endure.
But what really touched me was how bravely Peta rose up: pushing against norms, doing what "felt right" for her, and, perhaps especially, turning her brave decision into a true life moment, a celebration and a chance for advocacy.
Peta Gilbert
The photo on the front of Peta’s postcard was taken in October 2023 when she and 11 other "flattie women" (as Peta refers to them), travelled to Great Keppel Island in NE Australia.
Transformed into mermaids, their shots became a calendar to raise funds and awareness for the charity Not Putting on a Shirt (NPOAS).
A beautiful documentary was also made of the Great Keppel Island shoot.
Peta told me: "Under the pink wig I had short chemo curls. Once I put the wig on, I instantly felt different—it changed my perspective on being beautiful as a mid-life women with no breasts".
Peta is a writer and her photo shows her as a sea scribe with quill and ink well, putting her message in a bottle. There are so many layers of joy here. Okay, I'm crying, again.🥹
I'm so grateful to Peta for adding her story to the Project. What an inspiration you are, Peta! We wish you all the very best on your ongoing journey.
*My sister, Bronte, also experienced breast cancer and chose to have a double mastectomy, so this story is close to my heart.
How This Project Has Changed Me
Every story that's come my way as part of this initiative has, in some way, big or small, reshaped my own view of the possibilities that ageing brings us.
Here’s what I’ve learned…
that it’s never too late to leap into the unknown
that your age—whatever your age—is the ‘age of opportunity’
that we can craft our own narrative by harnessing our agency and hard-won wisdom
that our ‘prime of life’ is wherever we decide it should be—and usually that’s right in front of us
We are all change makers
Are you flipping the script in any which way—philosophically, professionally, biologically or creatively— add your story here.
Invite friends to share theirs as well!
For more updates on this ongoing Postcard Project initiative, subscribe to Road Trip to Younger magazine
Finally, a very special thank you to all the wonderful women who have contributed to The Postcard Project to date.
Part One
Dr SD Shanti, Leslie Senevey, Sophie Mill, Tracy Mansolillo, Lisa Bolin, Linsey Bamping, Marla Grant, Sue Women Living Well After 50, Jennifer Granville, Janice Macdonald. Suzanne Noble, Caroline Ferguson
Part Two
Nicole Piper, Linda Hoenigsberg, Jada Butler, Robin Motzer, Patricia Rose, Aurélie, Dana Leigh Lyons, Debbie Hudzik, Linda Naylor, Peta Gilbert
And if you have contributed and your story is not here yet, stay tuned!
Wow! Got chills and tears reading this. Inspiring and validation the movement is real. (Thanks for including me)♥️
I’ve always taken care of people with chronic pain as a holistic physical therapist. Now after 35 years, at age 66 I’ve been waiting to begin my authorship years as I softened my work flow. now my hands can’t type because of a secondary disease on top of my collagen, hyper mobility. I never thought that I would reach my prime days of when I would do my real work as a disabled person. I’m very fortunate to be a physical therapist, Health Coach, writer and many other things that allows me to thrive in this time. I’m a double Aquarian too. I do things for the good of all and for community sake I guess this is the time where I’m supported to do the work. I really came in to do. I’m excited to have found this group, because there’s nobody around me that supports me still working everyone’s
retired and crabbing about their health. I’m taking my health by the hand and together, we are going to light up the world.