Hello and welcome to Mera Magazine, a place where I—a 40-year-old writer lady living in Amsterdam—explore my latest obsessions. Currently, that’s chipping away at how people of all ages are thinking about the second half of their lives. In other words, if you still have no idea what you’re doing (and would love to chat about it!), you’re in the right place.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with exploring that question from every angle: the profound, the practical, the vain, and the funny. Through personal essays, interviews, experiments, and the occasional existential crisis, I’m trying to make sense of what it means to get older—and live life to the fullest—on my terms.

It’s something that has been top of mind since my mom died on January 1, 2025, following nearly five years of living with Alzheimer’s. The day after she died, I did what I now realize is called grief math. I calculated how many days she had lived and how many days I had already lived when I lost her. When I realized—only three months into my 40s—I’d already lived more than half the number of days she ever got, it got me thinking, and since then, I’ve been ruminating on how I want to live my second half.

Spoiler: I’m a long way from having answers! But I’m hoping that writing about it and talking to other people will help me figure it out.

Hey, hello, hi. I’m Alexis. I was born and raised in New York and I’m currently living my best life (and exploring my Dutch roots) in Amsterdam. Mera is my middle name, which I inherited from my maternal great-great-grandmother.

I make a living helping tech, ecommerce, and lifestyle companies engage audiences and grow organically through content strategy and copywriting services for blog articles and landing pages, guides, newsletters, email nurtures, and more.

On the side—for self-accomplishment and creative enjoyment—I’ve published personal essays in HuffPost and Another Jane Pratt Thing, and I’m working on my first book—a memoir about how losing my mom to Alzheimer’s in my 30s has shaped me as I enter midlife. I also run this Substack that you’re reading right now (how fun), and call myself an amateur photographer.

When I’m not writing, you can find me on the padel court, at CrossFit, traveling, trying new recipes, or learning to paint.

You have given grief a better, more fluid definition. Thank you. Well done. —Jane

This is exactly on the money. Such a great read this morning! —Gayle

Alexis, thank you for writing this. Your point about there being no universal timeline really resonated with me. —Desaree

Alexis writes funny, down-to-earth, heartfelt essays that are always my favorite of the week! —Lindsey

Funny + wise insights from a fellow American expat in Europe. —Lee

I too grew up ashamed of my teeth! Appreciate you. —Kate

A great piece of writing Alexis. —Hannah

This is so funny. —Leslie

Great advice, thank you! —Mindy

• My husband dumped me on FaceTime (Personal)

• I thought divorce at 33 meant failure—until I reinvented my life in Amsterdam (Personal)

• 13 signs you’ve entered midlife (Midlife humor)

• I don’t want kids, and I’m finally OK with that (Personal)

• I failed my mental load test, here’s what I’m doing about it (Personal/Wellbeing)

• Brownies (an essay about love, loss, and finding comfort in brownies) (Personal)

• I was a toothless teenager—here’s how it shaped me (Personal)

• I’m motherless, now what? (Personal)

• Things worth sharing... 8 books I loved this year (Recs)

• What’s your love language? (Relationship humor)

• Learn about my content strategy & writing services and coaching here

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• Question, comments, want to say hi? Email: alexismeradamen@substack.com

I appreciate your readership alone, but if you’d like to further support Mera Magazine and help me reach my dream of becoming a partially retired middle-aged writer lady by the age of 55 (just being honest!), consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you so much.

(Note: I occasionally include affiliate links to bookshop.org in my book rec posts. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I may earn a very small commission. This is one way to help me keep Mera Magazine alive. And it’s a great way to support independent book shops!)