Eleanor Mills had a very fabulous job, one that she had built her life and identity around for decades. But her "midlife collision" was calling when the boss called her up to their office for a "chat".

Years on, Eleanor is living a very different life, and one that has its start, as some good stories do, in a midlife mushroom trip.

In this conversation, Eleanor talks about the question women are too afraid to ask themselves, empty nests, cold swimming, why her "Noon" women are the world's greatest untapped resource, and how she cured her "addiction to busyness" to rebuild after her midlife collision.

You can find more about that, and Eleanor’s community of Queenagers here.

THE END BITS:

ENTER SUBSCRIBER GIVEAWAYS: Use code MIDCRUISE for 20% off a yearly subscription.

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.

Mamamia's new podcast BIZ is rewriting the rules of work with no generic advice - just real strategies from women who've actually been there. Listen here.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Senior Producer: Grace Rouvray

Producer: Tahli Blackman

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rachel Griffiths says she just got through her "peak mid-hell years" and she's here to tell us how.

The actor, producer, and director has had many eras - from the "fast start" of Muriel's Wedding to being a Hollywood awards darling, a big-deal US TV star, the director of the Australian classic movie Ride Like A Girl, the co-creator of Total Control and now, the star of the TV show Madam. Through all that, she was also wrestling with the relatable MID dramas - parenting teens and young adults, a diagnosis that made sense of so much, caring for ageing relatives and trying to keep a long-term marriage going. No wonder, as she tells host Holly Wainwright, she and her husband needed a sabbatical.

This conversation also veers off into ageing, the Hollywood stars Rachel used to envy but no longer does, how to stay optimistic in a tumultuous world and the relief of finding out she's "ADHD AF".

You can follow Rachel Griffiths here.

You can watch Madam here: Watch Madam Season 1, Catch Up TV

THE END BITS:

ENTER SUBSCRIBER GIVEAWAYS: Use code MIDCRUISE for 20% off a yearly subscription.

Share your feedback! Send us a voice message or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au

Follow us on Instagram @MidbyMamamia or sign up to the MID newsletter, dropping weekly here.

Mamamia's new podcast BIZ is rewriting the rules of work with no generic advice - just real strategies from women who've actually been there. Listen here.

CREDITS:

Host: Holly Wainwright

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Senior Producer: Grace Rouvray

Producer: Tahli Blackman

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.