Life changes, drawer by drawer

Why does no one talk about how midlife isn’t just about wrinkles or an empty house— it’s the quiet shock of an empty routine, an empty grocery cart, and a version of yourself that feels ready for a refresh. Sometimes, the whole script gets rewritten in the most unexpected places… like your underwear drawer. American actress and film producer, Sharon Stone, talked about this out recently. On Late Night with Seth Meyers, she shared

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, she shared a little gem that stopped me mid-scroll. She revealed that now that her three sons have all grown up and out, she’s officially made a wardrobe change, saying goodbye to boxer shorts and hello to “lady underwear.”

For years, she joked, she’d been living in  a “stinky frat house.” With three boys under one roof, life had leaned heavily into the casual, practical, and decidedly unglamorous. Her admission? Somewhere along the way, she gave up wearing what she considered lady underpants and defaulted to men’s boxer shorts—partly practicality, partly self-preservation.

With three growing boys in the house, “You’re just a dude,” she laughed. Just one of the dudes.

But now? With all her boys grown and flown, she’s claimed her drawers (pun very much intended) for herself. “I’m a girl again,” she declared, describing not only her shift back into feminine underwear but also the feeling of rediscovering her own sense of femininity.

It’s such a small detail. Just underwear. And yet—it’s never just underwear, is it?

The Empty-Nest Shift

When children leave, life rearranges itself in ways big and small. The house is quieter, the fridge stays fuller, and the laundry baskets don’t runneth over. But what really changes is us.

We’ve been mothers, providers, schedulers, chauffeurs, peacekeepers, cooks, and homework consultants. And then suddenly, we’re women again. That doesn’t erase the years of mothering—it expands them. It says: I can still love them fiercely while reclaiming the corners of myself that got tucked away somewhere between the soccer practices and science fairs.

Sometimes that reclamation looks grand—travel, career pivots, moving to a new city. And sometimes it looks as small as a drawer full of silk and lace instead of cotton plaid. Both matter. Both are signs that life has shifted, and you are shifting with it.

Humor + Truth

What I loved about Sharon Stone’s story is the humor threaded through the truth. She didn’t make it heavy. She didn’t make it tragic. She did make it real. A wink, a laugh, and a reminder that personal identity can hide in the oddest places—like our choice of underwear.

It’s a beautiful model for how we can all approach life changes with humor, with honesty, and with a sense that says,yes, this is different, but different doesn’t have to mean worse. It can mean more.

The Age of Savoir Faire

For those of us stepping into what I like to call The Age of Savoir Faire, these changes are not about losing who we were but about remembering who we are. It’s about rediscovery. It’s about permission. It’s about opening a drawer and finding not just lace, but a woman who is present, unapologetic, and ready for her next act.

So, whether your version of “switching underwear” is actually lingerie, or maybe buying fresh notebooks, picking up old hobbies, painting your bedroom, or simply saying yes to a glass of champagne on a Tuesday—celebrate it.

Because life changes, yes. But you? You change too. And that’s where the beauty is. Not in holding on, but in slipping into something that finally feels like you again. Underwear optional.

Until next time.