Hey all. Welcome to MidThoughts, a newsletter about discovering a new kind of happiness in middle age. I'm excited to have you on board!
Who am I?
I'm Dan Benson, a writer and entry-level midlifer (1979… holla!) on my own path to self-discovery. I'm currently working through an IT management position as my day job, but as night falls, I don the Batman cape and patrol the city enjoy writing short-form content on the internet.
Some of you may have come here from Medium, where I occasionally post articles. In actuality, I began this online writing journey over 13 years ago, penning a series of B-grade movie reviews for an otherwise respectable film review website. Think ninjas, zombies, and lots of Mexican wrestling, and you'll get an idea of where my head was when I first tossed my hat into the online writing arena.
What is MidThoughts?
MidThoughts is a newsletter for anyone trudging through their midlife years who feels that the world has lost that sense of wonder, mystery, and discovery that it once held during our childhoods. This is a newsletter for those of us who have found ourselves nosediving into brutal spells of ennui, feeling stuck in an endless loop of days stuck on repeat, desperately trying to wedge some meaning, purpose, and direction out of the drudgery of everyday life.
This is a newsletter about breaking stale routines and finding a new kind of happiness in midlife, about new journeys, breakthroughs, and perspectives. The goal is to breathe fresh air into those corners of our lives that have been shut out and away for far too long and to toss aside some of those preconceptions you may have about middle age.
In each issue of MidThoughts I'll explore these crucial years of our lives in short-form content centering around, but not limited to:
Simple actions and changes that we can make to disrupt the brutal loops we unintentionally trap ourselves in during middle age.
How to escape the dull grind of daily life and rediscover our creative selves again.
Personal reflections on everyday events and observations in a world that only seems to move faster the older we get.
Re-evaluating the new limitations being imposed by our aging bodies and minds.
The occasional existential grumblings of a man too young to begin yelling at the clouds but too old not to raise a nervous eyebrow as they float by.
How often do you publish?
I try to publish something once a week. In reality, it's more like once every other week. But see below for future plans.
How do you make money?
As of now, my income comes strictly from my day job. I am launching the MidThoughts newsletter free of charge, simply as a passion project, making things easy on myself by publishing a few times a month and gradually building from there. As the newsletter grows and hopefully becomes a burgeoning community, I'll explore adding a paid subscription as well as additional premium content for those wanting more.
I'm thrilled to have you all here. I hope you find this newsletter insightful, relatable, humorous, and at least a little bit helpful.
See you next issue, where I’ll properly kick things off. 😎