Ashley Kelsch
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Unfucking Midlife
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17:48
Where Did the Desire Go?
Your life force didn't disappear. It just stopped having anywhere alive to go.
Jun 11
•
Ashley Kelsch
8
Lately, This: My Daughter Graduated and Something Unexpectedly Shifted
On motherhood, cold plunges, and what my pelvic floor apparently knew first.
May 23
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Ashley Kelsch
9
3
2
47:48
Quitting Drinking, Desire & Reinventing Yourself in Midlife
Live with Allison Deraney & Ashley Kelsch: A candid conversation about sobriety, self-help, desire, menopause myths
Jul 17
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Ashley Kelsch
and
Allison Deraney
9
3
3
I Thought Wine Was My Problem. It turned out I had no idea what to do with myself.
On free time, wine in bed, and the self I hadn’t met yet.
Jun 3
•
Ashley Kelsch
30
20
2
You Don't Have a Drinking Problem. You Have an Aliveness Problem.
I’ve watched this pattern play out over and over…
Feb 4
•
Ashley Kelsch
41
9
8
Most Popular
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Unsolicited: Sex and the Single Woman Part 1
Feb 28, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
19
3
5
Why Some Women Thrive with Casual Sex (And Others Don't): Exploring Sociosexual Differences Part 2
Mar 7, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
19
5
Unpacking Babygirl: Exploring Sexuality, Womens Roles, and Midlife Awakenings
Jan 10, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
16
2
4
The Hidden Connection Between Wine, Sex, and Why You Feel Numb at Midlife
Feb 17
•
Ashley Kelsch
42
18
9
Recent posts
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Midlife Women, Wine, and the 3am Wake-Up
Why the thing many midlife women use to unwind is often the same thing waking them up in the middle of the night.
May 7
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Ashley Kelsch
31
4
8
What We Call Self-Care Doesn’t Last
The things that helped in the moment weren’t the same things that healed.
Apr 14
•
Ashley Kelsch
27
5
4
It Was Never Wild or Sober
Wine was sold to us as the thing that would make us looser, freer, more ourselves. Sex got sold the same way.
Apr 4
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Ashley Kelsch
16
6
6
Ten Years of Journals. Only the Names Changed.
I thought going back would feel like growth. It felt more like a weather report.
Mar 30
•
Ashley Kelsch
13
1
3
We Were Introduced to Our Bodies. Nobody Taught Us to Feel Them.
On desire, alcohol, and the awakening nobody warned you about.
Mar 22
•
Ashley Kelsch
12
3
The Girl Who Was Told To Be Quiet
Alcohol gave the angry girl a door. Sobriety meant learning how to open it.
Mar 18
•
Ashley Kelsch
14
4
3
Nobody Witnessed My Rock Bottom
For the women whose lives look completely fine from the outside.
Mar 10
•
Ashley Kelsch
21
9
3
Is It My Hormones, a Hangover, or Who I’m Becoming?
What happened when I removed the one thing holding my life together
Mar 5
•
Ashley Kelsch
23
11
4
Unfucking Midlife: You Said You Wanted It. So Why Don’t You Have It?
Most women I know are not confused about what they want. They know. They’ve known for years.
Feb 25
•
Ashley Kelsch
20
10
4
The Hidden Connection Between Wine, Sex, and Why You Feel Numb at Midlife
What happens when wine becomes the bridge to sensation and desire slowly goes quiet.
Feb 17
•
Ashley Kelsch
42
18
9
Unfucking Midlife: Turning 46
On mortality, grey hair, and the freedom that comes from finally not giving a fuck
Feb 11
•
Ashley Kelsch
29
12
5
Safety Was What I Needed. I Just Didn't Know How to Get It.
A story about what happens when your nervous system mistakes wine for safety.
Jan 28
•
Ashley Kelsch
12
3
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Unsolicited
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Bras, Brain Rot, and the Internet Outrage Machine
In 48 hours: Liz Gilbert hot takes, death videos, and Jimmy Kimmel canceled. The internet rewards outrage; all I get is cognitive dissonance and brain…
Sep 25, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
6
2
Stress Training for Midlife: When Starting Over Isn't an Option
Midlife stress is layered: aging parents, teens, partners, money, health and no option to burn it all down & start over. The “fuck it, I’m out” approach…
Aug 17, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
28
2
4
Is What You’re Getting Worth Grieving What You’re Not?
When “doing the work” in a relationship starts to feel like you’re the one getting worked.
Aug 8, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
13
3
The Midlife Move: No Sudden Movements
And How Anne Lamott’s Advice to “Never Give Up” Is More Important Than Ever
Jun 30, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
14
2
5
We're Aging In, Not Out
Because here's the truth: we're not aging out of anything that matters—we're aging into who we were always meant to be.
May 19, 2025
•
Ashley Kelsch
32
7
14
Lately, This
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Lately, This: My Daughter Graduated and Something Unexpectedly Shifted
On motherhood, cold plunges, and what my pelvic floor apparently knew first.
May 23
•
Ashley Kelsch
9
3
2
Ten Years of Journals. Only the Names Changed.
I thought going back would feel like growth. It felt more like a weather report.
Mar 30
•
Ashley Kelsch
13
1
3
That's So Mid #9: Better Late Than Never (Beginner Lessons from the Tennis Court)
Plus Intermezzo and Martyr book reviews, the Emma Grede Aspire episode that got me thinking, and a summer recipe
May 26, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
12
2
1
That's So Mid #8: When You Can’t Afford a Crisis But Can’t Afford Not to Change
Exploring why midlife isn’t about crisis but about honesty, shedding armor that no longer serves you, and embracing who you truly are—even when the…
Apr 1, 2025
•
Ashley Kelsch
31
9
5
That's So Mid #7: Feels like January 49th
Fran Lebowitz, Substack Writers Who Got Intimate, and a Few Good Distractions for the Months that Feel Never-Ending
Jan 31, 2025
•
Ashley Kelsch
13
4
5
Unfucking Midlife
View all
We Were Introduced to Our Bodies. Nobody Taught Us to Feel Them.
On desire, alcohol, and the awakening nobody warned you about.
Mar 22
•
Ashley Kelsch
12
3
Unfucking Midlife: You Said You Wanted It. So Why Don’t You Have It?
Most women I know are not confused about what they want. They know. They’ve known for years.
Feb 25
•
Ashley Kelsch
20
10
4
Unfucking Midlife: Turning 46
On mortality, grey hair, and the freedom that comes from finally not giving a fuck
Feb 11
•
Ashley Kelsch
29
12
5
Unfucking Midlife: The Strength in Unfolding
Because some parts of us don't need fixing, they just need space.
Jan 23
•
Ashley Kelsch
21
3
2
When the Soul Says, “Bitch, Wake Up.”
Marie-Louise von Franz wrote, “Only when the eternal girl dies can the woman be born.” I think my body got the memo before I did.
Oct 31, 2025
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Ashley Kelsch
24
4
Uncensored
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Unpacking Babygirl: Exploring Sexuality, Womens Roles, and Midlife Awakenings
Her inability to articulate what she wanted + the clumsy way she navigated her desires felt uncomfortably familiar. I was reminded of myself & the first…
Jan 10, 2025
•
Ashley Kelsch
16
2
4
Built to Last: When Sex Tests the Limits of Home Furniture
How many f*cks can a frame take before it breaks? Are furniture makers and manufacturers taking this into consideration?
Aug 29, 2023
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Ashley Kelsch
5
1
2
Dumb and Dumber
"A Cycle of Deception: Falling for False Promises and Lies"
Jul 17, 2023
•
Ashley Kelsch
6
1
Mind-Blowing Female Pleasure: Why Women Are Getting Soaked Without Traditional Sex
From Mormon 'Soaking' to 10-Finger Techniques: The Pleasure Revolution Women Are Lining Up For
Jul 3, 2023
•
Ashley Kelsch
11
6
6
Eat Pray Hide
I was out to dinner with friends when I felt my crown come loose and fall out. As if that wasn't awkward enough, a man I'd harbored a crush on for years…
May 26, 2023
•
Ashley Kelsch
8
2
1
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