Merriam Webster dictionary: a midlife crisis is a period of emotional turmoil in middle age characterized by a strong desire for change.
Dictionary.com: a midlife crisis is an emotional crisis of identity and self-confidence that can occur in early middle age.
Both men and women go through midlife crisis (Cathy Meyer, liveabout.com). When it comes to this affliction, some would argue that men make more of a mess of things.
Men reach a certain age and realize that life is passing them by. They fear they are not as attractive, their family is holding them back, and they question their goals and choices. Men might buy a shiny new sports car, pursue younger women in an attempt to recapture his youth or get a motorcycle associated with total freedom.
Women are often thrust into midlife crisis at an age where they finally have time to do the things they have put off while taking care of their family. Women might search for a new life purpose or question career choices. They sometimes look for lost youth by dressing differently, trying to change a look, frequenting bars, or having an affair with a younger man.
The song Eight Crazy Hours (In the Story of Love) by Reba McEntire provides a good example of this. In the song, for eight hours the woman runs away, staying in a hotel room under her maiden name. She questions her entire life, who she is, who she wants to be, her family life, her husband, all of it:
In my new comedy murder mystery PLEASURIA: TAKE AS DIRECTED, Dr. Jason Longfellow is a bored, middle-age FDA drug reviewer and family man in midlife crisis.
He decides to shake up his life by getting a PI license and playing private eye on the weekends. His wife is not thrilled with this behavior. He also buys a brand new shiny red convertible sports car that is too small for him; his head extends above the windshield so he can’t put the top up.
This story is outrageously fun fiction that explores a man’s inner conflict and insecurities with respect to his midlife crisis as he takes on his first case as a private eye:
- deciding if this is really attempted murder, or something else entirely
- bumbling through his new weekend career, his only training a TV show
- his insecure male ego screaming the need for freedom
- driving with top down in the rain
- interrogating several attractive female suspects
- solving his first case while struggling to remain faithful to his loving, and fierce, wife
- facing the fact that his wife strongly disapproves of his fun new career that just won’t pay the bills
Will Jason solve the case and survive the perils of his midlife crisis, or will his wife kill him in the process?
So, before you decide on the wrong path in your own midlife crisis, pre-order Pleasuria and enjoy a good belly laugh, instead…
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