Introducing The Midst, the gateway drug for the modern 40-something experience
By Amy Cuevas Schroeder
We’re back! We kinda peaced out at Jumble & Flow in December 2022 to prepare for this moment: to let you — and only you, the mighty Jumble & Flow readers — know that we’re gearing up for an existential transformation in 2023.
We’re changing our name to The Midst!
We’re the same team behind Jumble & Flow, creating the same kind of content (plus new exciting stuff TBA) but at a different URL (themidst.substack.com now, plus the-midst.com soonish). Yes, you could call it a rebrand — which will soon include a design refresh, juicy community conversations, and new opportunities to live your best midlife.
We’re starting nice and easy with this Substack — hey, we’re a collective of Grown Ass Ladies — not a huge media machine. All Jumble & Flow subscribers will automatically receive the free version of The Midst weekly newsletter, which includes highlights of both our free and paid content. It’s up to you whether you upgrade to enjoy the full experience here on Substack.
What do you get with a $5/month Midst Substack subscription?
Full access to interviews with inspiring women and personal essays about navigating and thriving in this phase of life. And of course, the “let’s get real” stuff like Dear Dixie, stories about do-overs and reinvention, divorce and dating in midlife, sex, parenting, and more. Moving forward, you won’t be able to access all of our content unless you subscribe. We’ll offer limited access to our free content on jumbleandflow.com and only excerpts of the majority of our interviews, essays, and feature content.
Comments and community
What’s the vision for The Midst?
The Midst is a media and lifestyle platform for women in their 40s and 50s. We’re transforming the conversation about these [pick your own adjective] years. No one is "over the hill" — we’re in the prime of our lives. We publish thoughtful content that empowers women in the midst of life to reimagine this period as a time of growth, exploration, and possibility.
Why are we changing our name?
Nothing against Jumble & Flow, but we’ve evolved since I started jumbleandflow.com as a wee personal blog covering my Adventures in Perimenopause in 2019. Back then, at 42ish, I was frustrated as hell that I couldn’t get a doctor’s diagnosis for what I knew was clearly perimenopause.
Fast-forward to 2023 and everyone’s talking about peri and menopause — from The New York Times to Christina Applegate’s character in Dead To Me. Now at 46, I’ve nailed my hormone treatments and want to help other women navigate their menopausal journey (Margaret Cho likens it to a gateway drug to clarity and confidence), along with all the other mind-blowing experiences of midlife. … Like our evolving bodies and desires, widening perspectives, ditching shit (and people) who no longer suit us, empty nesting, career editing, gratitude for our younger-year screw-ups, and redefining what the second half looks like. According to you.
Whereas Jumble & Flow tells a chunk of the midlife empowerment story (Own your jumbles, find your flow), we believe the best is yet to come in building a fully fledged health, wellness, and truthful lifestyle brand for women in their middle-ish years.
Together, WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF REWRITING MIDLIFE, truly in the thick of it. No, we’re definitely not just getting started in our 40s, but we can choose to start over completely, or partially, or just keeping on trucking on our terms.
Why are we keeping The Midst kinda hush-hush for now?
It’s not so much hush-hush as it is word-of-mouth growth. The way we see it, we’re building The Midst with you, for you.
All of our growth with Jumble & Flow happened organically — from zero to 75,000 monthly pageviews — without advertising or flashy campaigns. Just women reading our content, signing up for our newsletter, and then sharing with friends. Plus plenty of feedback from our readers and contributions from cool GALs like Terri Trespicio, Samantha Dion Baker, Shaina Feinberg, and Nina Lorez Collins.
With your support, we hope the same thing’ll happen with The Midst — but with more velocity once you help us pick a logo and get the conversation rolling here in Substack.
Why are we charging for access to content?
As with many independent media projects, we’re currently operating at a loss. I’ve personally poured thousands of dollars from my full-time day job into publishing Jumble & Flow and paying our part-time core team members. Unfortunately, I can’t continue to lose money, hence the rollout of Substack in addition to creating new hopeful revenue streams (a store, events, etc.).
If you’re thinking, Amy, this is scrappy, you’re right
Let’s call it “polished scrappy.” Which is how I start most of my projects, ranging from Venus Zine to Etsy seller education to the DIY Business Association to Jumble & Flow and now The Midst. Because everyone’s gotta start somewhere.
I also realize it’s kind of confusing to keep track of which site you go to for what thing. Here’s the answer: The Midst Substack is our focus now. You’ll be able to view some of our content in full on jumbleandflow.com for the time being, while we’re building the-midst.com.
Ready to help us build The Midst?
I appreciate your support and look forward to hearing from you soon. Feel free to contact me directly at amy@the-midst.com or share your feedback here in comments.
High fives!
Amy
P.S. What should we call ourselves? Midsters?