You Keep Me Sane
For 10 years, Aileen and Julie have been each other's sounding board from opposite sides of the globe – Aileen in London and Julie in Melbourne.
They have navigated everything – motherhood, relationships, menopause, health, grief, and everything in between – through daily voice messages. These exchanges often became lifelines, and now they share that space with their listeners.
In You Keep Me Sane, Aileen and Julie hold honest conversations on life's challenges, growth, and connection. They lend an ear and share heartfelt insights, creating a space that allows both them, and you, to be human.
Listeners are encouraged to write in with their own experiences and topics, becoming part of the conversation that feels like a chat with close friends.
You Keep Me Sane
Losing Our Voice - When Midlife Asks Us 'Who Am I?'
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Episode Overview
There’s a moment many women reach - often in midlife - where we stop and quietly think, Who am I actually?
It doesn’t arrive with drama. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s usually the result of years spent being reliable, capable, needed. Years of making decisions for the family, the partnership, the household unit. Years of choosing what works.
And then one day, something pauses us.
Maybe it’s exhaustion.
Maybe it’s hormones shifting.
Maybe it’s the kids growing up.
Maybe it’s a relationship changing.
Or maybe it’s just the slow realisation that we don’t quite recognise ourselves anymore.
In this episode, we explore what it really means to “lose your voice” - not literally, but emotionally and identity-wise - and why that question in midlife isn’t a sign that something’s gone wrong.
It might actually be a sign that something more honest is trying to emerge.
Key Discussion Points
- What “losing your voice” actually means in adulthood
- Operating as a family unit and how decisions slowly stop being about us
- The invisible praise of being dependable, strong and capable
- How self-worth becomes tied to being needed
- Why midlife hormones, burnout and emotional shifts make the cracks visible
- The body saying “no” after years of holding it all together
- Reclaiming your voice quietly, not dramatically
Listener Takeaways
- Losing your voice rarely happens suddenly - it’s usually the result of years of being dependable, capable and needed.
- Living as part of a family unit can slowly shift decisions away from what you want towards what works for everyone.
- Midlife often acts as a pause point, where exhaustion, hormones or emotional shifts make it harder to keep pretending everything is fine.
- Feeling lost or disconnected isn’t a failure — it can be a signal that something more authentic is trying to surface.
- Self-worth can quietly become tied to what we provide rather than who we are.
- Reclaiming your voice doesn’t require dramatic reinvention — it can begin with small, honest noticing.
- You don’t need to have all the answers. Awareness is a powerful first step.
Join the Conversation
Have you ever had that moment where you realised you didn’t quite recognise yourself anymore?
What brought it on - exhaustion, midlife, shifting roles, something else?
We’d genuinely love to hear from you.
Send us a DM or email us at hello@youkeepmesane.com
You’re not alone in this.
Links:
- Follow YKMS Podcast on IG @youkeepmesane.pod
- Follow YKMS on FB https://www.facebook.com/YouKeepMeSanePod
- Email us at hello@youkeepmesane.com
Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.youkeepmesane.com/subscribe/
Hosts: Aileen Harvey & Julie Fahy
See https://www.buzzsprout.com/privacy for privacy information
Disclaimer:
Remember, we’re two friends sharing our personal experiences and discussing everyday challenges. We’re not qualified coaches or therapists, and our content is for general information and supportive conversation only. If you need professional help, please seek advice from a licensed therapist.