Madonna Re-invention Tour @ Wembley by disco_ecstasy, on Flickr

OK, so maybe that title belongs to Madonna. I’m sure as heck not competing with her on the world stage. But I have a lot of admiration for her and what she’s done with her life. She’s a woman in her fifties who is not resting on her laurels. Why should we?

Last week I had the honour of being interviewed by the lovely ladies of the Finding Our Hunger podcast. Kaila Prins and Ito Aghayere are young women who are struggling with issues of anxiety, perfectionism, eating disorders, dealing with pain and expectations and lack of sleep. They have turned these existential questions into a wonderful podcast, and I was so excited that they included me in their lineup. We had a long and varied conversation, but one of the things that came out loud and clear was that re-invention is not just something that I’ve done on a regular basis in my life,  but an essential part of who I am. I don’t know how much of it can be attributed to my upbringing and early adulthood, living in three different countries before I was 21 years old, and how much to my undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder (is it a disorder or a gift? Squirrel!).

As I continue to search for clarity, and to deal with the fear that is the inevitable companion of every re-invention, I am looking at the increasingly crowded space of life coaches. If I am struggling and in need of a coach such as the inimitable Berni Xiong to help me figure out my latest incarnation, how many people out there are like me and could use some support in that arena? How do we separate the real deal from the shysters promising  a whole new life within three months? As a completely unregulated profession, at least in Manitoba, how would one find a credible training institution? There seems to be an awful lot of bad coaching out there.

I would love to know what you think about these questions, and also please make sure to go and give Kaila and Ito some love! Leave them an iTunes review, bump up their numbers, generally make sure lots of people know about their fascinating podcast.