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Women on the Verge of a Midlife Crisis A new book gently advises millennials and Gen Xers against blowing up their lives by PHOEBE MALTZ BOVY
FOR A WHILE, the youthspeak term for mediocrity was mid. (Perhaps it still is.) It’s apt, then, that middle age is also called midlife. Life at its most, well, mid. Even when it falls short of full crisis mode, midlife can prompt a mix of panicked self-improvement efforts and resignation. I have not had one epic midlife crisis — more like a series of little ones. Some are more in the vein of wholesome developments, like starting weight training. Others, not so much: I regularly book and then cancel a medspa appointment, determining I’d rather spend money on antique furniture than my increasingly antique face (even if podcasting, which I often do, is pivoting to video). I made a (public!) vow to stop buy- ing clothes, only to find myself back at the boutique down the street. It’s a vintage shop that caters to Gen Zers looking for Y2K nostalgia clothes, where I purchase items like the ones I wore in high school. It’s where I try on 1990s-does-1960s
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