Courage, Sovereignty & Reinvention: A Conversation with Kim Benoy and Rose Wippich

In this special collaborative episode, Kim Benoy, host of Midlife with Courage, and Rose Wippich, host of Chat Off The Mat come together for an honest and empowering conversation about what it truly means to navigate midlife with courage, sovereignty, and self-trust.

Together, they explore the identity shifts that many women experience in midlife—when traditional roles begin to change and new possibilities emerge. This conversation invites women to reflect on their purpose, reclaim their energy, and step into greater visibility with confidence and authenticity.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Identity shifts and reinvention in midlife
• Returning to yourself after years of caregiving and responsibility
• The importance of energetic boundaries and self-care
• Finding purpose and meaningful work in your next chapter
• Visibility, voice, and being seen in midlife and beyond, and more!

Midlife is a turning point—not a decline.
It is a time to reassess priorities, rediscover passions, and reconnect with your inner wisdom.

You are allowed to redefine success.
Success may look like meaningful connections, personal fulfillment, creative expression, or simply living in alignment with your values.

Your voice matters.
Many women feel invisible in midlife, yet this stage of life holds immense wisdom and leadership potential.

Boundaries protect your energy.
Learning when to say no—and how to care for yourself—is essential for long-term well-being and vitality.

It's never too late to begin again.
Dreams can evolve, resurface, or be reimagined at any stage of life.

Connect with Kim

https://www.midlifewithcourage.com/

Midlife with Courage™ Community
A welcoming place to build meaningful connections, gain confidence, and navigate midlife with courage and clarity.

Kim Benoy is a retired Registered Nurse turned podcast host, speaker, and passionate connector of midlife women. Through her Midlife with Courage™ Podcast, she inspires and motivates women over 40 to embrace change, rediscover their strength, and live their next chapter with purpose, confidence, and courage.

✨ The deeper work lives on Substack and in my book.

Rose Wippich — weekly essays on Remembering, Returning, and Reclaiming the energy, voice, and years that are yours.

If you're ready to stop fading and start reigning, meet me there. Substack Link

Rose Wippich is an Energy Alchemist, Reiki Master Teacher, qigong and yoga instructor, and author of Empress Rising. She's here for the woman who knows she's ready for something more — the one who feels the pull of her next chapter but isn't quite sure how to step into it.

Through her book, podcast, and teaching, Rose inspires and guides women in midlife to reclaim their energy, identity, and voice — and step boldly into their Empress years.

Connect with Rose: 🌹 Website: rosewippich.com 📖 Book: EMPRESS RISING: Own Your Energy, Trust Your Wisdom & Rewrite the Rules of Aging. 

✍️ Substack  📷 Instagram 

If this conversation resonated with you, share it with a friend, subscribe to the podcast.

Please review  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ via Apple Review or Podchaser. 

Produced by Rose Wippich | Chat Off The Mat Podcast

© 2026 Rose Wippich

Transcript

Welcome And Collaboration Setup

Rose 0:10

Welcome to Chat Off the Mat. I'm your host, Rose Whippich. This is where we explore energy, empowerment, and what it means to embody your Empress energy.

Kim Benoy 0:23

Hello, everyone. Today on this episode, we are going to explore the courage it takes to move through midlife, the courage to question old roles, to make changes, and to step into what's next with honesty and heart.

Rose 0:39

And for me, midlife is also about sovereignty, reclaiming your energy, trusting your inner wisdom, and choosing how you want to live rather than who you've been expected to be.

Kim Benoy 0:52

So for those of you who don't know me yet, I am Kim Benoit, and I am the host of a podcast called Midlife with Courage. And today, Rose and I are going to do kind of a little something different. We're going to talk with each other and share this episode with our own audiences. So it's going to be a fun experiment. Rose and I connected online, and there we have so many things that in common, which we might get into that later, but we just have this connection that we want to both help midlife women in our own ways, but we can do it even better together. So that's where this came from.

Rose 1:30

Hi, I'm Rose Wippich, and this is Chat Off The Mat, along with Midlife with Courage with Kim Benoit. And I'm really excited about this episode because Kim and I met very briefly, and we knew right away that we wanted to collaborate on something a little bit more powerful. So, you know, power comes in numbers. On this episode, we're collaborating on the topic of midlife with courage and also sovereignty. So I'm really excited to be here with you, Kim.

Kim Benoy 1:56

Yes, this is gonna be so fun. I love a challenge, and but it's a fun challenge. So we're gonna have fun.

Rose 2:01

This is great.

Identity Shifts And Reinvention

Kim Benoy 2:02

Yeah. All right. So let's just get right into it. We're gonna talk about some several different topics, but we want to start out with our identity and reinvention. And we a lot of women at this point ask, who am I now? And that's a big question, right? So we want to think about what parts of our identity are shifting in midlife because we do, we change and we evolve. And when I think about this question, I think of the roles I've had in my life. Um, parenting probably is my number one, and how that changes as we um as our kids get older and they start leaving the house. Now, Rose and I are at two different stages with that. But we both have twins. We both have twins, yes. There's an there's one of those things that we have in common. So um I was a very young twin mom, and and you came into the role as um a seasoned and woman with more wisdom. Yes.

Rose 3:02

And less energy.

Kim Benoy 3:05

Yes. Um, one of the roles in my life has been as a nurse. I, you know, I was a nursing, um I was in nursing for 27 years as a registered nurse and left that profession a few years ago and haven't looked back, but I still have that caretaking role in my mind. And as we get into midlife, I feel we we need to start taking care of ourselves, make that more of a priority than taking care of everybody else. And so that's kind of where I am at right now with that, where that part of my identity has been shifting a little bit. What about you, Rose?

Rose 3:38

Yeah, I love that you said that. I think that as women, we have so many identities, so many labels, so many things that we've done that parts of ourselves get lost in those. And I really have been coming up, I don't know, spirit is guiding me to really talk about returning to the self because we lose parts of ourselves. And some of the parts that we lose are okay, like we're shedding those old things, but we still are, you know, the partner and the mom and the daughters and the caretakers and the people pleasers and all those things. And I think when we start to let go of some of those things and really talk think about what we want to do in our lives. And you know, as we get older, our life gets shorter. So, like, we have like, you know, wow, I really want to, I want to travel or I want to reinvent myself. Or not, I I really like doing that. I'd like to spend more time like that. We really need to honor what that inner guidance is telling us. I think that's really important to tune in and listen.

Kim Benoy 4:36

Yeah, that's another thing we have in common too, because that's really been my focus, especially over the last year. I've been kind of led that direction. And when we talk about our sh our shifting roles, it's really we're outgrowing things. Yeah. When I left nursing, I expected that I'd feel sad about it, or maybe I would regret it. And someone pointed out to me, and I didn't, is the point. And someone pointed out to me, Well, you just checked that box off. You were you were done with that, now you're moving on to something else.

Rose 5:13

Yeah, I love that.

Kim Benoy 5:14

Yeah, it just helped me process that a little better and like, oh, yeah, okay, that makes sense.

Rose 5:18

And yeah, we have an attachment sometimes to things like you know, you'll always be a nurse, you'll always be someone who's an empath and a healer. You know, I when you said nurse before, I thought of my own role, as now I feel like I'm a healer in a way that I help guide others to help heal themselves. And you'll always have that as part of you. Um, but yes, I think that when we when we change roles that that we're we're stepping through, the way I look at it is that we're either closing a book on a part of our lives that we're like we're done with that book and we put it back on the shelves, or we're walking through a portal and we're taking parts of those selves and you know, repurposing it.

Kim Benoy 6:00

Yeah, I love that. Repurposing. You know how we repurpose things in our house? Yeah, we're repurposing some of our skills. Right. And as we get to this point too, we we kind of look, what is our purpose? Well, we're repurposing what we've done and bringing it.

Rose 6:14

Yeah, yeah. Or what do I want? You you started off with saying, like, people ask themselves, women ask themselves, what do I do now? But the beauty of that, the power behind that is they're not saying, hopefully, most women are not saying, I'm done, I don't want to do anything, or I'm too old to do something because you're not. There's so much you can still do. And I think as women get older and they transition out of traditional roles, I think they start to feel this little fire energy inside that says, Oh, I want to do something different. What is it that I want to do?

Kim Benoy 6:46

Yeah, there's possibilities start to open up, I feel.

Rose 6:49

Yes, yeah, as long as you're open to them, right? Yes, yeah. And I think you know, you talk a lot about courage in your podcast, and courage is a huge thing because we're afraid of stepping into something new. I I find as I get older, I'm sometimes a little bit more fearful, or that fear comes up, and I have to work harder to say, okay, listen, I know stuff, I'm not afraid, I could do this.

Kim Benoy 7:17

Yeah. I try and point out to women who are feeling afraid to just take that first step. Think about what you've already done. You know, it did you raise a family? Did you get married and you still have a successful marriage? What did you do for corporate? Yeah. Your job, your career, right? You are successful. We don't think about that. We don't appreciate ourselves enough. You know, as when we get to this point sometimes, we sometimes need someone to point that out. Like, look what you just did or look what you've done. That's the forgotten parts.

Rose 7:50

Yeah. We forget. Yeah. And I think when we for most of us that have been moms, once we are so absorbed in that role, everything else gets blurry, especially when you're raising twins, you know. And I'm speaking speaking for myself, but you know, like the first two years were blurry. But everything becomes like like, oh my God, so far in the past. But once in a while, I remind myself like I had a good job for a long time, and I was very successful in that job. And just now I'm reinventing myself.

Kim Benoy 8:24

It's not over yet.

Rose 8:26

I love that.

Kim Benoy 8:27

Yeah. So wonderful.

Rose 8:29

Yeah. So let's go on to another topic that I think is really important for, especially for women, at any stage of their lives, and that's uh boundaries and also taking care of what their energy is. And once in a while, maybe not all the time, but more times than not, say no instead of always being the first one to react or act when someone needs your help. Um, you know, I think as you know, we're talking here in in our some of our roles, we're we're the first ones, like I always say, we're the first ones on the front line when somebody asks something or they're asked, they ask of us, and we're always saying, Yes, we're gonna help. And what that does is it depletes our energy. And you know, I study traditional Chinese medicine and I work with Chigong and Reiki. And, you know, when we're born, we're given so much energy. Like you have a bank account of a this much energy and our lifestyle and our habits and our stress factor and everything can deplete it. So it's really important that we are aware of when we are feeling depleted. Like that could be through anxiety, that could be chronic uh pain, fatigue. And it's important to recognize that and and pause and say, okay, well, what do I need to do to replenish myself? Kim, you talked about self-care, right? What does self-care mean to somebody else? For me, it means one thing, uh doing my practices, pausing. Yeah, so what is it, what does it mean for you, Kim?

Kim Benoy 10:01

Self-care. It's very similar to what you just said. I love to get away, like go away from I I work from home, so I like to be like go outside, get out in the outdoors, trees, sky, sunshine, hopefully. And it's the middle of winter right now, so there's a lot of sunshine, but just getting outside, getting that fresh air, that's for me, I need to do that. And I will find myself getting to a point where I just feel scattered. I can't focus on anything. And I try, and I at first I I'll be thinking, I just if I can just do this one thing, then I'll take a minute, a minute. But the more time that goes by and the older and wiser I get, I just realize you're not going to do anything well right now. So just take your take your time, go, go do, you know, go walk, go for a walk, go outside, take the dog for a walk, listen to music, read a book, you know, just step away. That's my big, that's my number one way I have to take care of myself. Just step away from it. Um, social media too is something that I've been really trying to cut out as much as I can. Because I feel that that energy that's there. It's so draining. And yeah, I just don't feel good. I don't feel right when I as I'm scrolling and reading. And so I've really made an effort to just step away from it. You know, I I have this little voice inside me saying, Yes, but you need it for your business. And I'm thinking, hmm, the heck I do.

Rose 11:39

Yeah, I think taking those detoxing from the digital world is super important. I love that you brought that up. Yeah.

Kim Benoy 11:46

Yeah. It's it's just so pervasive right now.

Rose 11:49

Yeah, no, I agree. And you know, I I wanted to talk a little bit about energetic boundaries as well. Like, even with people in your life, you know, I was thinking about a story about years ago. Uh, there was a woman who would call me up every morning and she would just like drain me. She would just complain and talk about everybody else and was not a nice person. And she was very um just low vibrational, let's put it that way. And it drained me for a long time. And then eventually she kind of cut me off because I wasn't, she I think she felt that I wasn't really actively listening to her anymore or returning her calls. She cut me off and ghosted me. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I felt so good. And I and I didn't have the courage to do that because part of me was afraid of her. She was like so volatile. And then when that happened, I was like, that shifted everything, and that made me realize like I really need to be discerning as to who I led in my life. And you know, if there's people in your life that you really can't let go of, like physically, but you can energetically, you can just like say to your mind, like, you know, I'm not gonna get involved with that person's, you know, S-H-I-T. I I'm just gonna let them be who they are and then create that little boundary, which we can around us, this energetic little armor or you know, yeah, coat of of armor around us.

Kim Benoy 13:12

Yeah. Do you think she was almost sent as a that situation was like a message for you? You weren't you weren't able by on your own to have to say uh to say no. Yeah, she was your message, I guess. Maybe that's not the right word.

Rose 13:28

Yeah, that was my she was a she was a teacher. Ah in a way. Yeah. I and I realized that part of why I was hanging out with her was because I she had like a little tribe of people. And I felt like I really liked the other people, but she was just, you know, she was like the leader and um kind of controlled it. Um but then I had to really dig deep and and learn a little bit more about like why I felt I needed her and and why I didn't need her, or that energy, and that I can create my own community and my own group of people who are more supportive and more understanding and more spiritually guided.

Kim Benoy 14:12

Yeah.

Rose 14:13

I think that's more important to find your tribe.

Kim Benoy 14:16

Definitely. Yeah, and when you find them, you know.

Rose 14:19

Yes. And it's I I like like like you and I, we just chatted for five minutes and we were like, okay, we're gonna do something different. We're gonna we're gonna start working together and collaborating. And I think what I love about being a podcaster and out in this environment is really connecting with people who are really truly resonating with my energy, with my vibration as yourself and others that I've met. And it's been a joy and it's really helped enrich my life even more.

Kim Benoy 14:46

So yeah, and isn't that amazing? It's through a screen and a microphone.

Rose 15:27

Yeah, that vibration though travels, and you know, right? It's like our our auras are like out there saying, Oh, that person, like you know, you can really connect with that person and get you.

Kim Benoy 15:39

Yeah, it's like you connect, yeah. Here, bring them together. I love that.

Rose 15:42

That's amazing, right?

Purpose And Redefining Success

Kim Benoy 15:43

Yeah, the more I learn about this energy and these energy fields, I just oh, I'm just drawn to that. I love it.

Rose 15:49

Well, you already are connected, being uh a nurse and an empath, working with people physically. You've already understood what it's like to be in someone else's energy and to read that. So, you know, it's part of everybody's um toolkit is just being aware of uh of it as it's presents itself or how to work with it. Yeah, yeah, love it. So we were too so our our our next topic, one of the topics here is is um is purpose and meaningful work. You know, I think women once they're when they're caregivers, it gives them purpose. When they're working, it gives them purpose. And finding something meaningful is is important, right? So and as we we move out of those roles, it's defining success differently, I feel. I'll just take it from me, how I define success. So we're just talking about meeting people that I can connect with and resonate with and work with. To me, that's successful. I mean, that's not bringing me like you know, I'm not talking about monetary success because I've learned that that's needed in life, but I define success differently, and it's those connections that I have. And it's also like last year I wrote a book and I wanted to write a book for a long time. And after I wrote the book, I had to remind myself a couple of times, like Rose, you wrote a book. I'm like, Oh, yeah, that's right. That was a big deal. Yeah, that was a big accomplishment. Okay, so like I had that conversation in my head. So recognizing even the smallest things in your life that you're doing that are so powerful, and you know, consider those successes, you know, even like raising my raising my children was a huge success. Yeah, having the podcast, having my healing business, you know, teaching others, inspiring others when somebody calls me and says, Rose, that that what that podcast you had with that person, and that was so good, and I really loved it. I'm like, okay, well, that that's like a success for me. Yeah.

Kim Benoy 17:54

Yeah. I love that because that's I'm kind of along the same wavelength too. It's we look at success as a younger person as what the outside world says is success. Yes. And I think as I'm getting to this point in my life, you know, it's more what what do I feel is successful? And very similar to yours. I get to sit in front of a microphone every week and share stories of beautiful, amazing women. And that lights me up. And wow, that is wonderful. And no, I don't make millions of dollars, I don't make many dollars at all out of this thing. But it's still it's what lights me up and it's what I meant to do. And so yeah, I I totally agree with that. Um one of the questions, too, that I think we wanted to talk about along these lines were um, what dreams kind of come up for you? Yeah, but resurface.

Rose 18:50

So the writing the book. I've been always wanted to write a book and and also this podcast. I'll I'll tell you a brief story. Is when I was growing up, I always wanted to be a journalist. I mean, I wanted to be a sportscaster. I love sports. I used to write for the local papers, write for the school paper. It was like so, so much wanted to do that. And then somebody in my life, important person, said, you know, it's really hard to for a woman to uh break that and you know, there was like one sports caster at the time. It's really hard, it's a really hard business. Do you really want to do that? And I just like that was it. I didn't pursue it. Uh and I was like, oh my gosh. And I always asked myself, what if I did? Where would I have been? Where would have it have taken me me? But maybe I wouldn't have the kids and the husband and the place I'm living at, which I love. But now I'm doing the podcast. How different? It's not any different. I I write, I I'm on social media, so I have a presence. So it all just got per packaged differently. Yeah. And that's where I am now. So that was a dream that came full circle.

Kim Benoy 20:00

That's so funny. And I don't know if we talked about this the first time we chatted, but that's kind of similar to what I had planned too. I went to when I got out of high school, I was on the school newspaper. And when I got to college, I was gonna be a journalist. And so I was on the TV stage. So yeah, seriously. And and then I realized, you know, I really want to have a husband and a family, and I didn't think the two could work together. And so I turned a different path. But now I'm years later, here I am doing a podcast too. And I feel like that was what I was meant to do.

Rose 20:33

Yeah, that no, we didn't talk about that. Okay, yeah, it's just amazing how uh how that we have some similar stories.

Kim Benoy 20:40

Oh my gosh, this is a little, this is getting a little spooky almost.

Rose 20:43

So yeah, so if you've if anyone listening, if you've always had a dream, if you wanted to be an artist, there's no reason why you still can't be an artist or a dancer. You know, you can dance. Maybe you're not dancing on stage, or maybe you are, or you want to be an actor or an actress or anything, a writer, right?

Kim Benoy 21:04

Yeah, take a class, start writing. Exactly.

Rose 21:07

Don't be afraid.

Old Dreams Returning In Midlife

Kim Benoy 21:09

Don't be afraid, just do it. I um I was recently given uh my dad gave me a violin that my great-grandpa played. I guess he was a very talented musician, and I've always wanted to play an instrument, and I just have never, it just never happened. And now that I have this violin, I'm thinking, hmm, here we go. Why not? Why not? So I'm I'm that's probably in my future. I'm gonna learn how to I can I've I've learned that it's one of the hardest instruments that you can learn, but you know, so what?

Rose 21:43

Yeah, I mean, why not, right?

Kim Benoy 21:45

Why not?

Rose 21:46

It was a gift for a reason. Your your your grandfather is somehow giving that gift to you, yeah, spirit.

Kim Benoy 21:53

Yeah, for sure. So I love that never too late.

Rose 21:57

Never too late. So let's talk a little bit about visibility. You can start with that topic about yeah, um, your voice and how some women feel like they're taking up space and are afraid to get out there in the world.

Kim Benoy 22:12

Yeah, I recent well, probably last year, end of the year before I started talking to um, I started realizing through some things that I was um learning that I felt invisible. I've always felt a little invisible. And in midlife, we we have this need to feel more visible. We want to, you know, we want to take up space, we want to have people. People, you know, we want to be seen and valued, basically, is what it's come down to. And I love how you have the sovereignty and your, you know, like royalty almost. And um so I've really had to work on that being visible and and being comfortable with that and okay with that, and even like looking for that and relishing it. And and as even as part of my podcast, when I've started it, you know, I started it five years ago, and it will always it was only maybe last year where I thought, okay, it's not I am I was thinking of myself as well, it's my podcast, but I'm just here to highlight these other women. And it kind of started to dawn on me that no, this is my podcast and it's my voice, and that's important too. And that one little thought has just blown up and really kind of energized me to even step more into my into me. Like, look at me, and I'm here. And I it kind of ties into what you talk about too. So I just I just feel so right. If it feels right, like here I am. You know, if you love me, great. If you don't, that's okay too.

Visibility And Taking Up Space

Rose 23:52

Girl, you said my words. I love it. Exactly how I felt five years ago. I started this podcast in the past, you know, it was meant as a platform to highlight amazing people, which I have wholeheartedly, and I still do. But this year I was like, you know what? I got I have something to say. Yeah. And I'm starting to show up a little bit more with my own messaging. And I think that that's how you feel the same, the same, and and show my authenticity and and not have a veil of you know, someone else's words or someone else's um way of showing up. I'm showing up the way I want to show up. Yes, yeah, I love that. And I think that's important that women do that too. I struggle with that visibility as well. I mean, we have a platform, so we're here, we're in front of the crowd, we're you know, on camera, but there's also visibility even in your day-to-day. You know, everybody looks at younger people and and and and you know, people who are midlife and beyond, maybe not so much, but you know, I I want to be recognized for my wisdom and for all the things that I've done. I have something to say. And for many years I didn't say things because I said to myself, oh, nobody would want to hear me anyway. And I've had to change that because I've got a lot to say. And and I will express myself and be visible, and there's nothing wrong with that. And I think that all women should not feel that they're in the background, but to get out in front because that's where you need to be. You need to be there to show others the amazing person you are and to guide all the other women that are coming up in life and mentor them. So we we have to to shift the way we feel about that visibility.

Kim Benoy 25:44

Yeah, definitely. And when you do and you feel it, other people notice it.

Rose 25:50

Yes, that energy, it's that energy change.

Kim Benoy 25:53

It's that energy. I was I go to a networking meeting in my area, and the we met, we meet the first week of the month, and the last meeting. One of the ladies came up to me and she said, I don't know what you're doing, but I see you being more out, like I see you basically is what she said. You are more comfortable, you are you are here with a message, and I'm just letting you know that I can see it. And that to me was like gold. Thank you. Hello, it's working.

Rose 26:24

I love that. But it comes from inside, right? It comes from that that pause and reconnecting to your voice inside, and that expression, that unique sense of expression and voice and authenticity. And when you let that guide you, like and it let that come out, it's um it changes everything and it changes the way people look at you, just like that woman. I love that. That was a huge validation for you.

Kim Benoy 26:52

It was nice, right? Oh, it's amazing, yeah.

Friendships Changing And New Community

Rose 26:55

And you know, I think more women should should. I love to do this too, and maybe this is this is actually not off topic, because when I see someone out when I'm shopping, let's say I'm at TJ Maxx, which I am like once a week, and I see some woman who has like really beautiful makeup, and she could be like 80 years old, and I'm like, Oh, you look really good, or you look really awesome in that outfit, and I mean it. Yeah, like, oh, thank you. And because I'm showing that showing them that they are seen and they're visible, and that they're you know, they're they're you know, just to validate them. And yeah, and I I love that. I love bringing a smile to someone face someone's face, but I do it with like with with feeling and and authenticity.

Kim Benoy 27:41

Yeah, yeah, you're not just seeing it to say it, you you mean it. And it's a way of connecting with other women too. And we let go of that competition crap we had when we were young.

Rose 27:50

Absolutely.

Kim Benoy 27:51

Yeah, yeah, we're all of this together.

Rose 27:53

Yeah, and there's still women who still feel that way, and that's fine. But you know, I go out with no makeup and I'm not worried about how I look because as long as I feel good, I'm good, you know. Who cares? Yeah, yeah, who cares? So yeah. I love that.

Kim Benoy 28:08

Well, we should, as we that kind of segues into the one of the topics we kind of wanted to talk about was relationships, yeah. And um authentic connections with other people, um, how our friendships maybe change as we go along. Do we want to slip slip into that topic for a minute? Yeah, sure. Yeah. Um, I don't know if you've had any friendships that have changed. I definitely have um as we go through our life.

Rose 28:34

Yeah, I have.

Kim Benoy 28:35

Yeah. Um, do you want to share some of that or do you want me to go first? How do you want to go?

Rose 28:40

Yeah, we can talk about it at the end. Yeah.

Kim Benoy 28:42

I kind of have like kind of both ways. I've people who I've been close to in the past have kind of drifted off. And I've also had people I've reconnected with um because we've paid attention and paid more time. Um, I had some college girlfriends that we haven't seen each other in years. And one of them, um, her name's Holly. She she invited us all to her house up in northern Wisconsin for a weekend. And that was a year ago. And we've done it, we've continued to do it every few months. And the second time we met, I said, you know, I've seen you two more or youth, this group more in the last year than I have since college. And she said, we're making the time to do it now. And like, oh yeah. So it's important to us. So we're we're making the time. So I think as things change and people maybe drift away, it's maybe that relationship has reached its its, I don't want to say end, but maybe it is an ending in a way.

Rose 29:43

Yeah. I I think endings in relationships are happen a lot for me. And I often question why, like, why have I not heard from that person? And you know, it and and I have to say I mourn those moments because I really have tried to nurture um individual relationships, especially with other moms. But then maybe our children are now in college or someone has moved and it's harder. Um and I have a hard time letting go. But I'm learning that it's just meant to be that way, and we still have a thread or two of that connection. It's not just like constant. And um, but I've also created mindfully smaller groups that I connect with on a regular basis with group chats and you know, we get together. I have my little Reiki groups uh that I've nurtured, and we are we are close, and when we need each other, we text each other for healing or whatever it is, you know. Nice. Um, yeah. Um, and I've also had some people that that I've reconnected with at the right time when I needed to have them either as a uh a friend, a teacher. Um, and I think the same goes with teachers in our lives. We've had I've had a lot of teachers in my life, whether through yoga or chigang or spiritually, we connect with them, we learn from them, and then we kind of let them go. And those are relationships that you know we let go because we get to a point where we we've become less of a student and more of someone who who's like a self-contained healer, you know.

Kim Benoy 31:29

Yeah.

Rose 31:30

You know, relationships are defined differently for everybody, but I think that you know, having a social aspect in your life is really important, especially as we age, because we don't want to feel isolated. I struggle and I struggle with that because I can l I love to be home and do my thing and read my book. And um, but sometimes I'm like, you know what? I I need to have those social connections. How how do you feel about that?

Kim Benoy 31:57

Yeah, I agree. And I'm the same way too. I kind of like winter because when it really I want to like if there's a really nice snowstorm, I'm really excited because it means I don't have to go anywhere. Me too. But yes, the the connection with other women and and going out like socially, yes, I I totally I think I crave it sometimes too. Like, but paint so I but I think now we have to really pay attention to that and make more of an effort sometimes to do that because it is so easy to just text. I mean, I have a a group of friends too that we have a text chat that we every day we text something, somebody has to say something, you know, share or whatever. Um so that's easy, but trying to make time to get together in person is a little more challenging sometimes.

Rose 32:47

Just but we could do it, but we can we can make it happen. And I think like to your point, it's important that we we we have that that physical in-person connection. And yeah, winter, me too. Winter, I feel like I'm in a snow globe. Yeah, the snow's on the outside, and I'm in my little warm little cozy home. Yeah, and then spring and summer, you know, the time of rising energy where we get out in nature and we see other people, and it's like you feel really good and you want to make those connections. And yeah, it's just a cycle. I think it's just like anything else, it's a it's a cycle, just like with our friends coming in and out. But yeah, but it's really important to make those connections because even as mothers, we sometimes tend to isolate ourselves when our children are young. And some of those, um, you know, it would one of the things I wanted to mention too is that I stopped drinking two and a half years ago.

Kim Benoy 33:36

Wow.

Rose 33:38

And friendships change.

Kim Benoy 33:41

Ah, sure.

Joy And What Lights You Up

Rose 33:42

Right? And that was my biggest fear. Talk about courage. Like, I feel like, okay, well, I know people are gonna either not hang out with me more or whatever it is. And it's all good. Yeah, so we should probably wrap up soon, right? And um, do we have to? I know we can go on and on, and maybe we'll we'll do like a second uh uh one of this, and we have other ideas to do other things as well. You sure do. Um, but let's end with um, I guess the the the topic, the last topic is about joy, freedom, and what's possible now or at any time, actually. So I just want to say for me, joy or contentment means waking up and knowing that um I'm being guided to do my best work, um, you know, stay in a high vibration, do what's best for myself as well, not feel guilty about pleasures in life, whatever that means for you, and and you know, you can label that in any way. And um knowing that I'm here to guide other women, especially, on a journey to sovereignty and to living their life fully, and that makes me happy. So to find what makes you content or anybody content, that's what you need to do because you make your own happiness, don't look outside of someone else for that happiness.

Kim Benoy 35:09

Clapping.

Rose 35:10

Thank you.

Kim Benoy 35:11

I love that. That's similar for me to uh yeah, when I I literally when I am happy about something or I'm feeling joyful, I literally clap my hands like I just did. It just comes out. That's how I as and people who know that about me, they'll when they see me do it, oh, you're happy. We like that. That's good. Um, but it and it's usually something along the lines where I've found a way to work with someone else, like not work, but collaborate, like you said too, and come together with a a common message that you matter and I matter, and that just lights me up. That's why I do what I do, and that's what gets me out of bed in the morning. But I feel so right about it that that energy just is there and it's amazing, and it's just guiding me to where I need to be. And that yeah.

Where To Find Us And Listener Feedback

Rose 36:06

And you've used the term, and I use this a lot as well lights me up. So the message for everyone out there is what lights you up? Yeah, and allow that that energy, that light to take you wherever you need to go to make your life just magnificent and magical, right?

Kim Benoy 36:28

Yes, definitely. Yeah. That's that's a question I answered. That's what stirred me all on this podcast journey. That's I answered that question, and here I am.

Rose 36:38

And I love that. And I'm so happy and grateful that I've met you and that we decided to do this collaboration together. And this will show up uh as our separate podcast, but it's one episode that we decided to do together. Thank you, Kim.

Kim Benoy 36:55

Thank you so much. And I would like to just chime in and say, I hope um we'd love to get some feedback on this from the people listening as well.

Rose 37:03

Yeah. Um, I know yeah.

Kim Benoy 37:05

If you're listening, Midlife with Courage, there's a little box that you can click to say send me a text and you can give us feedback there. I think you do something similar with yours.

Rose 37:14

Uh as well. You can email me. Um, Kim, just talk talk a little bit more about yourself, then we can end the show uh with each of us doing that.

Kim Benoy 37:23

Sure. Yeah. Um, Midlife with Courage, if you want to find me, that's what you can type in anywhere. I have a website, Midlife with Courage, and my podcast, of course. Um, I really am focused, like as I said, about sharing stories of other women who have amazing journeys and messages to share. Um, and I'm also this year, well, 2025, I started delving into some courage and confidence uh activities with other women. So I have a courage and confidence circle and uh an online community called Midlife with Courage. It's in the school platform. And I would love to have people reach out to me and see how we can connect and do some great things together.

Rose 38:08

I love that. And I get all your emails too, and I'm on your Facebook group. So I encourage everybody to do that. And I'm Rose Wiippich, and I am the producer and host of Chat Off the Mat. You can find me at rosewhipitch.com with my offerings. I'm also the author of Empress Rising, Own Your Energy, Trust Your Wisdom, and rewrite the rules of aging. Uh so if you need to contact either one of us, please feel free. We're we would love to hear from you. So thank you.

Kim Benoy 38:40

Thank you, Rose. This has been amazing.

Rose 38:42

Ready for more? Subscribe to Chat Off The Mat, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. Learn more about embodying your Empress energy and claiming your throne at rosewippage.com.