Transformation Stories

I was childless and heartbroken. Nature healed me
Like nearly half of my generation I haven't had kids. Nature, wild swimming and the sea healed me

'I left my life to work at a magic mushroom retreat'
Denise Rue felt she'd lived small...then left her comfortable life to work at a magic mushroom retreat in Jamaica

Why I left the FT for the classroom and set up Now Teach...
After 31 years as a top journalist, Lucy Kellaway quit to take up teaching...

Our Founder's tale of the life crisis that inspired Noon
Career change, illness and a looming empty nest prompted Eleanor Mills to start her next act

My new chapter - novelist at 78
All her life Kirsteen Stewart had wanted to write. It's never too late...

Party girl to clean living mum
A chronic health condition forced Emma Nyman to reconsider her priorities

Don't make me laugh...how I became a comedian at 60
Val Lee on conquering her fears and taking to the stage at 60

My menopause: not a journey but a full-on car crash
GPs only receive basic menopause training, so Kate Muir's doctors seemed to be in the dark

Picture: Getty Images
The earthquake wrecked the life I'd built but saved my marriage
When the 2011 earthquake hit New Zealand, Emma and her husband lost everything. But there was a silver lining...

I had two kids, no parents, no husband and no idea how to pay the mortgage...
Tillie Harris on surviving a midlife meltdown