I am absolutely thrilled that you have found your way to this website. My name is Karla Raby Olson, and I am a mother to three beautiful daughters. As my children started to leave the nest, I experienced a profound disruption in my daily life. No more running to the grocery store every day, or cramming in dinner after practice. I had more time to reflect on who I was as an individual again, and what did I want to do in my fast-approaching Empty Nesting years. For the past two decades, my focus had centered entirely on my family, which was great. I loved it! But I hadn’t taken the time to consider my own dreams and aspirations for a while. And that’s on me. I think over the years I forgot about myself a little bit, (like those old sweaters shoved in the back of my closet) and maybe you have too. Well, it’s time to change that.
Currently, two of my kids are off to college and I have one at home. She’s a junior in high school and is gone from 7a.m. to 5:30p.m. My days have started to feel so long, empty, and quiet. And she hasn’t even graduated yet! However, this has been good for me because it’s forced me to start doing new things to fill my time, like researching Empty Nest Syndrome which turned into writing my first book!
I embarked on this journey two years ago, to define my own next chapter and it ended up turning into a full-blown mission. After countless hours of research, interviews, and writing, my one page note on Empty Nesting has turned into a book, workbook, course, and community. That’s the power of writing something down, taking action and working on something consistently. Crazy!
Did you know that there are 22 million Empty Nesters in the U.S. alone and only 7% prepare for it! And according to research, 63% report feeling lost or lonely, and that number goes up to 75% if they have health or financial problems. That’s over 15 million parents needlessly suffering during their Empty Nesting years. This has got to change. When digging into the research myself, one key factor kept popping up between healthy Empty Nesting and unhappy Empty Nesting.
Preparation.
This is when I knew I had to start thinking about Empty Nesting BEFORE my children moved out. I knew I wanted to avoid that feeling of dropping off your last child at their job or college, walking into a completly silent home, and not knowing what to do with my time. That scared me. And that’s how this community was born.
I want change the entire conversation around Empty Nesting and I hope you do too! Yes, it’s sad when our kids move out and our roles change, but it can be an amazing time for us too, if we have a shift in our perception.
Again, I’m so glad you found our community. Stick around! If you are an Empty Nester, a Brand-new Empty Nester, or an Almost Empty Nester like me, I promise you will get some clarity, courage, and good conversation. You will learn to fall in love with your future as we map out how to define your next chapter.
I see you, and I am wholeheartedly grateful that you have joined me on this transformative path. Together, let’s embrace the possibilities and make the most of this incredible chapter in our lives.
Xoxo,
Karla
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