Episode 146: Reinventing Yourself at Any Age: Jacqueline Pérez on Midlife, Motherhood & Creative Healing

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On the Live The Width of Your Life podcast, we explore what it means to not only live the length of our life but instead the breadth, depth, and purpose of each day.  

She shares her personal story of creating balance in her life by aligning her daily choices to life values, strategies to redefine success, and creating space for a bit of magic and synchronicity.  

It's never too late to change! We don't need to have it all figured out to begin; we can take action daily, show up imperfectly, and be amazed and inspired by how beautiful life can be.  

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Sometimes life throws you curveballs that completely change your direction—and sometimes that's exactly what you need.

In today's episode of Live the Width of Your Life, I'm sitting down again with my friend Jacqueline (Jack) Pérez to talk about her incredible new book, Metamorphosis in Stanzas. If you've ever felt lost during a major life transition or wondered if it's too late to start something new, this conversation is for you.

Jacqueline is the founder of Kuel Life, a platform celebrating midlife reinvention for women. She opens up about navigating empty nest syndrome, recovering from a skydiving accident, losing a close friendship, and how all of that led to an unexpected creative awakening: writing poetry at 60.

We talk about:

  • The emotional weight of empty nesting and identity shifts

  • How being physically still opened space for creative healing

  • Why poetry became her way of processing and releasing emotions

  • Navigating relationships with adult children

  • How midlife body changes affect our sense of self

  • The courage to live fully when life gets messy

Key takeaways:

  • Sometimes we need to sit with difficult emotions instead of pushing through them

  • Creativity can emerge when we least expect it—and that's often when it's most powerful

  • Parenting adult kids means being present without trying to fix everything

  • It's never too late to begin again, whether that's writing a book or following a dream

  • Living authentically means embracing both the beautiful and messy parts of life

This conversation is a reminder that our biggest challenges often lead to our most meaningful transformations—and that midlife can be the beginning of your most creative, purposeful chapter yet.

Resources + Where to Find Jack:

If this episode resonated with you, I hope you’ll consider buying Jack’s book—not just for yourself, but for another woman in your life who might need to be reminded that she’s not alone in this season.

More about Jacqueline:

Jacqueline (Jack) Pérez, a first-time poet at 60, discovered the power of poetry during a transformative trip to Istanbul. Her debut, Metamorphosis in Stanzas, explores life’s intricate themes—love, loss, renewal—through heartfelt verses and QR-coded readings. Jack crafts her poems in dawn’s quiet hours, often reading aloud from her closet. When not writing or traveling, Jacqueline is a Pro-Aging Champion and the Founder of Kuel Life, a platform dedicated to normalizing aging for women. 

Read the full transcript below:

About Your Host

Aneta Ardelian Kuzma is a holistic life coach, wellness expert, and yoga and meditation teacher, who explores what it means to live more fully, with intention, gratitude, and joy.

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