Queenager: Noon Circle meet-up

No sacrificial goats required.

Moonlit circles, not to be confused with Noon Circles.

I woke up on Tuesday morning with a feeling of low-level elation… the cause of which, was my first visit to a Noon Circle!

Despite the mystical sounding name, I can confirm that no sacrificial goats were harmed during the writing of this post, or indeed at the event itself.

As ever, I couldn’t wait to tell you all about it, but alas, the overcast sky indicated that it was perfect pressure-washing weather and so the task of trying to disengage the moss and general detritus from our tarmac drive needed to be finished first… so I happily skipped off to do it.

What? Really?

Just to be clear, the last time I ‘skipped off’ to do anything was in 1982 when Malcolm McLaren was urging me to go ‘Round the outside! Round the outside!’.

Something was afoot.

The reason for my moss-blastingly good mood, was that I was (and still am!) very excited for the new social group I’d met the evening before.

Here’s how it came about…

The Queenager

If you search Substack for ‘Midlife’ (which I often do) you will inevitably come across The Queenager with Eleanor Mills, who is on a mission to empower and support women as they hit their 50’s.

Many women, including myself, find themselves pivoting into something new at this stage of life, whether it’s via their own decision or circumstances beyond their control.

I saw a post announcing the first ever regional Noon Circles and was surprised and delighted that Guildford (the town nearest me) was one of the lucky seven!

At the time of ticket purchase, my understanding of Noon Circles was non-existent, but hey, £6 to meet and chat with a roomful of middle-aged women at a local venue?

I couldn’t sign up quick enough!

And it turned out, neither could quite a few of the other attendees who similarly didn’t know anyone and hadn’t been to a Noon Circle before.

“I saw it was local, so why not?” seemed to be the overwhelming purchase decision.

I really had no idea what to expect from the evening, or how many joss sticks would be burned, but I’m very into trying new things and meeting new people these days, so I figured why not.

The relevance of the word ‘Noon’ also meant nothing to me, it was worryingly close to ‘Moonies’, and maybe the ‘Circle’ had some kind of astrological link. Who knew? Certainly not me.

It turns out… 

Noon = midday, which in this case signifies the middle of a 100 year life, i.e. 50.

Circle = we sat in a circle, much like Book Club.

Fear not, there wasn’t even a whiff of Kumbaya.

The event

I arrived at the same time as another woman, both of us decided to perform high-speed donuts on the ample driveway, accompanied by clouds of billowing smoke… until finally we were jolted to a halt by our screaming handbrakes in perfect parallel.

No, of course we didn’t.

We gingerly parked in 6 or 7 over-cautious manoeuvres allowing plenty of space all around our cars, before treble checking the handbrake, due to the slope of the drive.

“Are you here for the Noon event? I’ve not been to one before.” I proffered, as ever, not 100% sure that I’d navigated to the right place.

“Yes, I am, I’ve not been to one before either.” replied Janet.

Huzzah! I’m not the only Newbie!

Debbie joined us at the front door, and the three of us were welcomed in by the lovely host Sue, and ushered through to the back where the early birds were.

“Wow, what an amazing view! I’m Kate…

And we were off into the intros. 

Each time someone new arrived…

“Gosh how stunning!”

… it gave us a great excuse to all try and introduce each other, whilst trying to remember all the names… Rosie (to match her hair), Mary (mother of Jesus), (Dammit!) Janet.

The thing is, because we were all 50+ women, we could play these memory games out loud, knowing full well we’d all be doing it in our heads anyway, so we may as well say it out loud which might help us all remember the names.

Which meant that within seconds of meeting, we were already trying to help each other, which was a lovely thing to observe.

Two more of our number soon emerged from their own private tour of the garden, which was another interesting thing, as presumably they had asked the host on arrival if she’d mind if they go and check out her lupins?

Younger guests may not have been so bold as to ask, but us older ones know full well, that if you have a lovely garden, you also get joy from other people appreciating it.

We’re also a very safe demographic to let loose in your garden, we’re not going to trample the beds or skin-up in the greenhouse.

More arrivals…

“Crikey that view!”

Until we were the complete set of 11, as expected.

All in plenty of time for the 7pm kick-off. 

No cancellations.

No late-comers.

When were you last at a gathering where that happened?

Meet the Founder

We were all ushered inside to watch

Eleanor Mills

kick-off the meeting formally on Zoom, with all six regions tuning in.

Up to this point they had only held monthly meetings in Soho, London, so this was a big expansion to regional. 

Kent, Cheltenham, Guildford, Bristol, Yorkshire, Exmouth were the lucky additions. 

It was a lovely warm welcome from Eleanor, and a quick recap of what they were trying to achieve at Noon – midlife is the age of opportunity! 

We then all waved a fond farewell and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had the feeling of being at the start of something special.

The only item on the agenda was us

The thing we all have in common, apart from our ages, was that we are all in a transitionary period of our lives, whether that be through our own choosing, or circumstances beyond our control.

It turned out only 3 or 4 out of our group of 11, had met each other previously. 

Most, like me, were totally new to the Noon Circle concept, and had stumbled upon The Queenager Substack recently before deciding to come along.

One by one, we told the rest of the group a bit of background about ourselves and what led us to this group.

What transition we are currently facing, how we felt about it, and which direction we hoped we’d start moving in.

I must say I found these stories absolutely fascinating. Each one was different, but they all had common threads.

Rosie surmised early on that by the end, we would be like a Venn diagram, with at least 2-3 people standing in each section. 

She was spot on, as similarities emerged in each unique story.

It also became very clear what an incredibly capable collection of women we are, as we listed out the stepping stones of our lives and careers to build our backstories.

I was in good company.

What next?

By the end, we did feel a bond, built by the past few hours of talk.

I for one, am very excited by the prospect of these meetings being held monthly, which I’m sure will give us the chance to form deeper relationships and true friendships.

I arrived home feeling fantastic and full of optimism for my new social circle. 

With a spring in my step, I popped open the boot of my car, and out he jumped.

“Not this time Billy, you’re off the hook.” I reassured him.

“Maaa-aaa-aa-aa”, came the reply.

Toodles!

K8x

Join in the comments below:

Would you describe yourself as a Queenager?

Would you attend a Noon Circle if there was one near you?

Have you ever sacrificed a goat?

Thank you for being here, please ❤️ (below) if you enjoyed this piece, it really helps others find it.

---

---

---