The Open Draft

Stories from a woman who burned the script and started over more than once.

The Open Draft

It’s late.

You’re at the kitchen table, maybe in pajamas, staring at the life you built—wondering if there’s more.

I’ve been there.
I followed the script: built the career, played the part, colored inside the lines—until I couldn’t breathe.

At 33, I lit a match to the safe life and moved to Korea.
At 45, I got married for the first time.
After 30 years in marketing—telling other people’s stories—I finally started telling my own.

Here’s the quiet truth:
Starting over doesn’t mean you’re fearless. It means you’re afraid, but you do it anyway.

This is where I write about what that actually feels like—reinvention, regret, the slow ache of healing old stories, and the shock of creating something true after years of shape-shifting.

Not for likes. Not for applause.
Just for the kind of woman who needs a place to lay her story down—even if only for a minute.

Free subscribers get

• Fortnightly essays on voice, identity shifts, and the creative life.

• Occasional previews from the paid room: a short excerpt + 30–60s audio snippet.

Paid subscribers receive

2 paid drops/month: audio story + 2 prompts + 1 tiny boundary ritual.

• Midnight Story — 8–12 min audio + short essay (the unvarnished, late‑night truths)

• Practice Pair — 2 prompts + 1 gentle boundary you can do in ten minutes

• Seasonal Letters — one long letter each season: ritual, reset, a gentler way to steer. → Open the season

• Monthly 60‑sec voice note — a tiny check‑in to keep you steady

• Reading Room — curated favourites + essentials (Member Index)

• Quiet chat — a small room where your words get answered

Why paid?
Because you need more than relatable content—you need a practice that moves you out of stuckness and back into your own life, gently.

30‑day promise: one boundary honoured • one ritual started • one avoided story reclaimed.

🔒 What paid feels like

• Support, not homework (each drop <15 mins)

• Prompts you’ll actually use

• A space where your words get answered

• Gentle accountability to choose yourself again—one tiny step at a time

You don’t have to do this alone. If you’re ready for a quieter, more honest room—pull up a chair.

→ Become a paid reader

P.S. New here? Start with these three:

1. you can’t pack a timeline

2. you did everything right. so why do you feel empty?

3. you don’t need to be known to belong