Personal Essays

By Paula

Written from inside a life, not above it.

On divorce and grief and dogs and nieces and the particular freedom of being exactly this age. The kind of thing you forward to a friend with no explanation because none is needed.

Paula, founder of pursueyourpink
14 essays By Paula
1
Reinvention Identity & Purpose Personal Essay

Sometimes It Takes A Refrigerator

On will, way, and the woman who built a flower shop without knowing she needed one.

2
Aging Confidence & Voice Personal Essay

Aging Gracefully. It's Not For Me.

On rejecting the cultural demand that women age quietly — and embracing it entirely on your own terms.

3
Relationships Community & Friendship Personal Essay

Aunts

On the particular, powerful, and deeply underrated love of being one.

4
Relationships & Intimacy Healthy Aging Personal Essay

Bed at 80 Is Better Than You Might Think

My 22-year-old niece told me I would obviously be bedridden by eighty. She was not wrong about the bed part.

5
Divorce & Reinvention Grief & Loss Personal Essay

Death and Divorce Both Begin With a D

One is not the other. But both deserve to be called grief.

6
Relationships & Intimacy Confidence & Voice Personal Essay

Success That Breeds Silence

The women we perceive as most successful are often the last to leave — and the least likely to ask for help.

7
Grief & Loss Identity & Purpose Personal Essay

she always knew "it's today!"

What our dog teaches us about the only moment that actually exists. For Charlie.

8
Home & Design Healthy Aging Practical & Actionable

Planning Your Forever Home

The home that is perfect today may not be perfect as you grow older. Ten things worth thinking about now.

9
Confidence & Voice Wellness & Longevity Personal Essay

Wig Whimsy

I am taking the wigs of whispers and making them spring break wet and wild. On hair loss, grief, glamour, and the spectacular opportunity hiding inside a terrible situation.

10
Healthy Aging Wellness & Longevity Resource List Library

Decoding Hair Loss: Causes, Diagnostics, and Cutting-Edge Treatments

Everything you need to know — from what’s happening beneath the surface to the full spectrum of options available today.

11
Fashion & Dressing Now Career Confidence & Voice

Theory

On suits, sisters, thirty years, and the advice that was always right — even when no one believed it the first time.

12
Grief & Loss Reinvention Aging

Sometimes a Gown Helps

We say things that don’t seem to matter. Then, years later, you find out they made it to a McDonald’s parking lot.

13
Grief & Loss Relationships Practical Financial Planning

Planning For Your Divorce

Just a few words from me before the important stuff.

14
Identity & Purpose Career Confidence & Voice Work & Power

Corporate America Found Me Attractive. Just Not Too Attractive.

On the unwritten dress code of corporate America, the high wire act women navigate daily, and the one aesthetic objective Paula refused to abandon all the way to SVP.

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