Finding Your Way Back to Fun in Midlife and Beyond

In this solo episode of Meaning and Moxie After 50, Leslie Maloney explores why so many women in midlife and beyond lose touch with fun, joy, and playfulness after decades of caregiving, achievement, and responsibility. She reflects on how women are often conditioned from a young age to prioritize productivity and other people’s needs over their own happiness, leaving many asking, “I don’t even know what’s fun for me anymore.” Drawing on research and personal insight, Leslie explains that fun is not frivolous — it’s essential for emotional well-being, creativity, connection, resilience, and even physical health. She challenges the cultural guilt many women feel around play and reminds listeners that joy should not have to be earned.

Throughout the episode, Leslie offers practical and encouraging ways to reconnect with fun, including revisiting childhood passions, trying something spontaneous or silly, building more unstructured time into life, and giving yourself permission to experience joy without justification. She shares personal stories, including a spontaneous “no-plan weekend” with her husband that reminded her how alive and connected fun can make us feel. The episode ultimately becomes a powerful reminder that fun is not a luxury or distraction from life — it is part of fully living. Leslie closes with an uplifting challenge for listeners to do one thing “just for the fun of it” and embrace this stage of life with curiosity, presence, and moxie.

Leslie's Information:

https://meaningandmoxieafter50.com/

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