By Josie Hamilton-Cook
By the time I turned 53, I’d walked away from everything that once defined me: a six-figure
career, a 26-year marriage, and the woman I’d spent decades trying to be for everyone else.
People told me I was brave but truthfully, I was broken. I didn’t know who I was anymore.
What I did know was that invisibility had become my daily costume, and I couldn’t wear it a
moment longer.
Leaving my marriage wasn’t just the end of something, it was the beginning of everything.
And yet, there wasn’t a single dramatic turning point. There were silent mornings staring at
my reflection. Evenings curled up wondering if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. And
slow, quiet reckonings with the little girl inside who still believed she had to earn love through
perfection.
It took time. And tenderness. And rebellion.
Instead of rebuilding the old scaffolding, I chose something radical: pleasure. Colour. Dance.
Styling myself in ways that felt like reclamation, not disguise. I stepped into spaces where I
didn’t have to apologies for wanting more.
Healing looked like barefoot dancing in Ibiza. Laughter that poured from places I thought
were buried. Sound baths, moon circles, and vision boards that reawakened my purpose.
I wasn’t looking for love in another person, I was coming home to it in myself.
My spiritual awakening came as a quiet, insistent whisper. On the surface, my life looked
perfect, but something deep inside told me it wasn’t enough. I tried everything: coaching,
therapy, restrictive diets, fitness plans. Thousands spent trying to “fix” myself. But healing
doesn’t come with a receipt. It comes with truth.
With the help of my spiritual coach, I stood before the mirror of my life and saw how deeply
I’d abandoned myself, putting others first, people-pleasing, accepting less than I deserved. It
became heartbreakingly clear: change had to come from within. And with that, I began the
painful, liberating process of disentangling myself from the familiar confines of family and
identity.
I also found myself holding space for my mother through a devastating mental health crisis.
It was, in every way, the most gut-wrenchingly difficult year of my life. And yet, it changed me
forever.
My faith in something bigger than me helped me through when everything felt like it was
imploding, I often say now. “What didn’t kill me made me stronger and I’m here to role model
that.”
I learned to live alone. I let go of the big house, the luxury cars, the high-status career. And I
began asking: Who the hell is Josie?
I immersed myself in astrology, human design, coaching, tarot, journaling, psychic readings,
and movement medicine. I began piecing together my path, insight by insight, ritual by ritual.
I danced to wild woman dances in my living room. I meditated with style as my mirror. I began
solo travelling, mastering DIY skills, and letting silence guide me instead of scaring me. Each
practice returned a part of me I thought I’d lost.
Through this personal metamorphosis, I birthed Rebellious Essence. My luxury wellness
retreats are the antidote to beige self-care, they’re vibrant, raw, beautiful, and rebellious. I
guide midlife women to scream into the sea, style their comeback, and remember who the
hell they really are.
I still remember the moment during my Ibiza photoshoot when I saw myself in the images.
“Who is that?” I whispered not in disbelief but in recognition. For the first time in decades, the
woman I saw matched the woman I felt inside: wild, wiser, visible, beautiful.
Falling in love again, for me, wasn’t about romantic partnership (though I remain open to
that, too). It was about remembering. Reclaiming. Reinventing. Saying yes to joy, style,
luxury, and softness without apology.
There’s so much conditioning around midlife. We’re taught to fade. To settle. To stay safe.
But I discovered that midlife is the perfect moment to rebel not against others, but against
the parts of ourselves we had to hide just to survive.
Second time magic isn’t reserved for soulmates. Sometimes it’s found in soul work.
And if you’re wondering whether it’s too late to begin again, let me say this clearly: You’re
right on time.
Your becoming doesn’t need permission just rebellion.
Content Page Blurb
Second Time Magic: The Radical Rebirth of Me
By Josie Hamilton-Cook
After walking away from a six-figure career, a 26-year marriage, and a lifetime of people-pleasing, Josie Hamilton-Cook shares the raw and rebellious journey of rediscovering herself in midlife. This is a bold love letter to reinvention, soul work, and the quiet power of starting again, on your own terms.
