WELCOME to BLOOMates!

Make Connections Here on BLOOMates.com!

Hi there, y’all! I’m Shiv O’Day (at right) with my sister and bestie, Reghan, and I am in Washington DC. I’m nearing 60 and decided to start a blog about my own older life journey – what it can mean to deal with all sorts of issues in later life when it comes to health, wellbeing, and staying engaged. Sure, menopause is a thing, and ageism is a thing, and I’d be happy to chat about those, but maybe most importantly, I think, is that friendship thing.

If you’re a woman of a similar time in life, you might be thinking about how having kids or a career made you forget about your own needs a bit. Maybe you let important relationships slide, or stopped doing that hobby or workout you used to love doing. I get it! I’m right there with you.

So I’m going to try to do my bit to be inspiring… starting with this blog. I call it BLOOMates!

The goal of BLOOMates.com is to bring women together in support and friendship to share the second half of their lives.

Women especially “bloom” when sharing life’s moments with their “mates.” It’s no secret that meaningful relationships lead to ever greater health and wellbeing! “Bloom” is a health-based message and perspective dedicated to the changes women experience, often linked to menopause and aging. “Mates” refers to the close friends

or roommates we gals may have once experienced as young women in college or in life, just starting out. BLOOMates is dedicated to the idea that having a “REP” (retirement engagement plan) is just as important as a basic financial retirement plan any day.

My goal and REP for BLOOMates includes sharing experiences and thoughts, and to build a place with a camaraderie of friends, and make that place irresistible… by offering the chance to make connections in ways not available or as interesting elsewhere. I believe that by sharing health and wellness news, creative ideas, and collaborative opportunities online and IRL, I will help you to head off any concerns of a lack of friends, activities or anything else during this stage of life, I want you to blossom with bosom besties!

So if you’re like me, you’re near to celebrating a special milestone – 50, 60, 70, or even 80 or above – take a moment to high five yourself, pat yourself on the back, or give that little sly smile you’re known for, and take a deep breath. You’ve done it! You’ve reached that time of life that’s just for you!

You-time has arrived! BLOOM! And bloom with your MATES!

See this phase of life as the chance to blossom and do your bucket list, seek out a friend-group to have a weekly meet-up, tackle that physical challenge you’ve always wanted to take on, dig into that satisfying gardening project, finally learn that language, advocate for that issue that gets your heart pumping, or any of the umpteen other activities you never had time for before.

We don’t mean to suggest you don’t want to have or shouldn’t have responsibilities to others – what we mean is that what you do now, how you spend your precious time – make sure it’s your choice. You’ve earned that right.

Whether you feel that you did or did not have that figured out throughout your life, there’s no question about it now. Speaking for myself, throughout my earlier years, I allowed others’ opinions too much weight in my decision-making. Rather than simply factoring those opinions into my thought process, I allowed them to pretty much dictate my life’s direction. In a nutshell, that’s been my story to date. Yours might have had a similar theme. But even if it did not, now’s the time to take what you’ve learned about the world, human nature, your circle of family and friends, and YOU, and put yourself at the head of the line.

Cheesehead by Birth

A bit about me: I’m originally from the midwest and moved to Washington DC about 25 years ago to pursue a job. I worked in live events at the time, as a creative director dreaming up innovative ways to entertain and educate audiences on a particular business objective. Usually it was to help train and motivate sales teams on a new product they would take to market, whether that was for automobile tires, private label grocery memberships, new medications, batteries, high tech capabilities, or even volunteerism in America. Dreaming up engaging experiences in lovely locales was my job and I loved it. I experienced first hand how storytelling motivated audiences to think and feel engaged.

At some point, being in Washington, D.C., I made a slight turn to supporting federal government missions with strategic communications - different, yes, but still related to my earlier experience helping audiences internalize a positive viewpoint, and I’ve been doing that for almost 15 years now. I’ve made understanding what moves audiences to act my mission in life, and so I find developing messages and content something I honestly enjoy. Making it personal – that is, with a target audience that I am a member of :) – BLOOMates.com is the icing on the cake!

Go East, Young Woman!

Years ago, I grew up in northern Wisconsin in a large family, and then I moved to Madison for college, then Milwaukee, and finally, Chicago before the move to DC. In each place, I had groups of wonderful friends that I saw regularly, almost daily. We hung out together, sometimes worked together, and vacationed together. Life was pretty much a nonstop celebration! I’m truly lucky and blessed to have had such wonderful experiences and people in my life.

Once I moved to DC, it wasn’t long before I met ‘my’ someone, got married and had two boys – and I became quite busy between work and home life. I tried to stay in touch with those friends and extended family, and did to the best of my ability, but time, distance (not to mention COVID), and responsibilities created gaps.

Now, one of my boys is in college and the other in high school, and each is interested in their own activities and friends. So, I seem to have more time on my hands, but fewer relationships with whom I can call up and share thoughts, concerns, and just ‘life’.

Connections are Everything!

So for me, for you, and for any gal of a certain age looking to connect, re-connect, engage and share, let’s make BLOOMates.com the starting place of something big!

My goal is to always share some resources and thought-starters in my blog, and for any conversations you’d like to have in the comments section. Soon I’ll schedule some live chats so that anyone who wants to can join me to discuss the topic of the day or of their choosing, can do exactly that. We’re all in this phase of life together!

So to honor my first blog, here are some really great books I’ve read lately that you might also might find useful and relevant to wellness and specifically, menopause, to get started (we may earn a commission from partner links on BLOOMates.com. Commissions do not affect our opinions or evaluations.):

• “Menopause Manifesto” by Dr. Jen Gunter

• “Peri Menopause Power,” by Maisie Hill

• “Hot and Bothered,” by Jancee Dunn

• “What Fresh Hell Is This?” by Heather Corinna

• “The XX Brain,” by Lisa Mosconi

I’d welcome those who have already dug into any of these books to leave me some thoughts, and we could even maybe schedule a ‘book club’ chat to discuss, or please simply jot down any comments below about these or other books you’ve found really useful about this time of life for women. THANK YOU!

What Are You Waiting For!?

Join me! Check out this site, add your name to my mailing list for updates, and read new blog posts regularly… and soon I will add more fun and useful ideas, and content with helpful and exciting videos to BLOOMates.com, demonstrating my own experiences and ideas so you can blossom with bosom besties! Stay tuned!!