41. Back Together for Season 3: Friendship, Fresh Starts & Fall Transitions
“The older I get, the more I tend to avoid discomfort. But sometimes pushing ourselves in midlife can bring surprising joy.”
After a long summer break, we’re back with Season 3 of Messy Middlescence! This first episode feels a bit like gathering at the kitchen table to catch up after being apart — we swap summer stories, reflect on the bittersweetness of how quickly it all went, and look ahead to the fresh start that fall always seems to bring.
One of the highlights: Tina shares her experience of completing her first-ever triathlon. It pushed her outside her comfort zone and reminded both of us how often, in midlife, we shy away from new challenges. Her story is a lesson in trying something different, facing nerves, and the joy of doing it alongside a friend.
That spirit of connection is what led us to choose our theme for Season 3: friendship and connection. We’ll be exploring the many ways relationships shift in midlife — how they deepen, how they sometimes fade, and why nurturing them matters so much as we move through this stage of life.
We’d love to hear from you, too:
What role do friendships play in your life right now?
Have you tried something new recently that surprised you?
In this episode you’ll hear:
Why summer can feel both precious and pressured — and what that means in midlife
How the school year can offer a fresh start for everyone, not just kids
Tina’s reflections on her first triathlon and the lessons it taught about trying new things, facing fears, and leaning on friends
Our reveal of Season 3’s theme — friendship and connection — and a look at the conversations to come
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[00:22] Christina Donovan: Welcome to Messy Middlescence.
[00:25] This is a podcast where we talk honestly about the changes. Just challenges, connections, and gifts that come with midlife.
[00:33] Nothing too polished. Just real conversations that remind us we're not alone.
[00:38] So let's dive in.
[00:41] Welcome back to season three of Messy Middle Essence.
[00:45] This is Christina or Tina Conti Donovan, and I am here with my sister,
[00:50] Tara Conti Bansal.
[00:52] And we are excited to kick off our third season.
[00:58] Our episode today,
[00:59] we are going to basically talk about a bunch of different things.
[01:05] We want to talk about the season coming up and what we have planned.
[01:10] But before we do that, we also kind of want to take a look back.
[01:14] When we last talked with you all, we were just getting ready for summer, and now it is mid September,
[01:23] quickly into fall.
[01:26] So we're going to start by kind of talking about what's gone on the last few months and then what we have envisioned for the next few months. Yeah.
[01:37] Tara Bansal: So, Tina, I feel like both of us had busy summers. How would you describe your summer?
[01:44] Christina Donovan: My summer felt the fastest it ever has, and I was a little surprised by that because I feel like when you have kids, summer is so precious and the time just feels so special without the constraints of school and activities.
[02:08] And I kind of thought.
[02:10] I mean, my son, my youngest graduated in June,
[02:14] and I don't know, I guess I felt like summer was going to feel more relaxed and. And slow,
[02:22] but I don't know. I can't still believe that we're in September. It's almost like I can't. I almost don't feel like I had a summer, which isn't true.
[02:32] We did plenty of things. But.
[02:34] Yeah, I was surprised that it's. It seems so much faster than when my kids were young.
[02:41] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I. Well, I think when kids are young, that in itself, time feels like it moves more slowly.
[02:49] Christina Donovan: But.
[02:51] Tara Bansal: And I just feel like going back to the preciousness of your summers now. More and more people,
[03:01] maybe it's in the circles I am in financial planning, but they talk about, like, you only have kind of like 10 summers, like, once your child is old enough to do trips and do things and have a voice,
[03:18] that it's almost like you only have 10 precious summers.
[03:23] How do you want to use them?
[03:26] And I dislike that that adds additional pressure, you know?
[03:33] But I just feel like for you,
[03:35] because of your youngest, there was, like, so many things you had to get done instead of having the, like,
[03:42] luxurious open vegetable and things.
[03:45] Christina Donovan: Yeah. It's interesting to see if next summer is more different. I mean, you have. We had two graduations and then we.
[03:53] Tara Bansal: Had one from high school, one from college.
[03:55] Christina Donovan: College. Yeah. And then we had two family trips.
[04:01] One with my husband's family and then one with our family.
[04:07] And I did my triathlon. And that was basically.
[04:11] Those were like the main things that happened this summer. And then getting my son ready for my youngest for college.
[04:19] But I didn't have a lot to do around that. I mean, I was sort of conscious of it happening and I tried to help where I could, but I actually felt with my youngest, I was the least involved with that process compared to my older two.
[04:33] Tara Bansal: And why do you think that? Just because of.
[04:36] Christina Donovan: I think because there were other. Like he was focused on other things and he wasn't concerned about having matching stuff. Towels and comforter. Yeah. Like, he's. He's a lot like my other son and he's much.
[04:50] He's a minimalist, you know, I think.
[04:52] Tara Bansal: Very practical.
[04:53] Christina Donovan: Yeah. Very bare bones in terms of what he wanted to bring and so forth. So.
[04:58] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Yeah.
[04:59] But I mean, my kids are soon to be that they're turning. One's turning 12 and the other turned 14 over the summer.
[05:10] And I.
[05:12] I have this like bittersweetness with summer that I do look so forward to it. But it also brings a different kind of stress. One is like even planning the summer.
[05:25] I always say it's like a Jenga or a like Tetris of like trying to get the pieces to fit together with all these different things to worry about and figure out scheduling wise.
[05:39] And every week is something different,
[05:43] at least often.
[05:44] And so I felt like every week I'm like, oh no, what am I supposed to be doing? What's the different pickup? Where is everybody?
[05:56] But overall,
[05:58] one, for me,
[06:00] I just felt like the weather this summer maybe was better than usual. There were a couple of really bad heat waves that were atrocious and the worst time possible for my kids camps.
[06:14] Christina Donovan: But they weren't long and there weren't a lot of them.
[06:17] I feel the weather.
[06:19] We live, both of us live in the mid Atlantic. She's in New Jersey, Tara's in New Jersey, and I'm in Pennsylvania. But I keep telling people this. We ran our air conditioning twice in August, which is unbelievable in this.
[06:35] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[06:36] Christina Donovan: I mean,
[06:37] yeah, we had a lot of sun and a lot of days in the low 80s and no humidity. I mean, it was a crazy weather. In a good way. Yeah.
[06:48] Tara Bansal: I mean, and I think that just added a lot of joy,
[06:52] you know, I love being outside and when the weather's nice,
[06:57] that makes it so Easy of just, you know, getting to enjoy it. And we,
[07:02] I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed our trips.
[07:07] Like out. We.
[07:08] We did a family Conti trip. We call it the Conte cousin trip. It was in Kentucky and it was on a beautiful piece of property and had a great. I don't know, I just feel like things worked well.
[07:24] Almost all of us drove,
[07:26] which made things easier.
[07:28] And it's not.
[07:30] It's only four days.
[07:32] I think we've learned a week is often too long and too hard for people to take that much time off.
[07:39] But it was really nice. I know my kids look forward to that in such a special way and it's fun to see how the kids all get together.
[07:51] I do think there's something special about cousins.
[07:54] And we had that. Like, we didn't see our cousins every year,
[07:59] but I felt like when we did see our cousins, we always had so much fun.
[08:04] Christina Donovan: Do you agree, Tina?
[08:06] Yeah.
[08:08] I feel like we saw a lot of our cousins when we were younger, but I don't really remember getting together with them much when we were.
[08:16] Tara Bansal: That is true. And definitely not the whole family.
[08:18] Christina Donovan: Some of that was. We moved farther away. Yeah.
[08:22] Tara Bansal: But, yeah, and I think part of that's with activities and kids and a big family, it becomes more and more challenging.
[08:30] Christina Donovan: Yes. But I also think that's partly why,
[08:33] at least for our family, the cousins seem pretty committed to coming. I mean, some of the older kids have been a lot more,
[08:41] have not made it as reliably, I guess, as the younger ones. But yeah, I think there's still that intent. They'd like to be there if they can.
[08:50] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[08:51] And then Nimit and I did an alone trip, which was really nice, to Newport, Rhode Island.
[08:59] And that felt like a luxury. And the weather, once again, it was like sunny and 75.
[09:07] It was like our father always says, like a top 10 day. And we lucked out. I mean, it was just such beautiful weather.
[09:19] And I really enjoyed Newport. I think I enjoyed more of the non touristy parts.
[09:27] We did a bike ride that was probably was my favorite part. But Nimit's not a huge bike rider and he was a really good sport that we did with a.
[09:42] Actually, I think he's a notionographer, but he's a professor that loves history and he made the trip interesting and that was very fun.
[09:53] And then we spent almost three weeks at the beach in Manasquan and that was something new for us.
[10:03] I love the beach. For me, that's very relaxing.
[10:07] It was,
[10:09] I don't know, just figuring it out. Like there Was a lot of back and forth. We still had hockey practice a couple times a week. So it, thankfully it's close enough that we could drive back and forth and then just work.
[10:23] I had this, like, I didn't want to work, but I felt like I had to work enough.
[10:27] And trying to figure that out was a little bit of a challenge. And I'm sure I'll keep,
[10:35] keep working on that.
[10:36] And then suddenly it felt like school.
[10:39] Christina Donovan: You know, like it was fast and hard. Yeah, yeah.
[10:43] Tara Bansal: And drastically different. I mean,
[10:46] my boys,
[10:47] the age they are, they now want to sleep in,
[10:50] which is a change for those with littles.
[10:53] They get up crazy early,
[10:56] but having the struggle of getting up in the morning is not. And both of them,
[11:02] it was a big adjustment. Alex started middle school and Nathan started high school and the transition's gone pretty well. Unfortunately, both of them have been sick already. In the first two weeks of school.
[11:17] I missed school and that did not help things at all.
[11:22] Christina Donovan: Yeah.
[11:23] Tara Bansal: And I always think of this new school year as a new year and thinking of new routines and new,
[11:33] I don't know, goals, new habits and rituals. I want to start things I want to start doing and things I want to stop doing.
[11:42] And do you think like that team?
[11:46] Christina Donovan: I think I do, but not to the extent that you do. And I think what will be interesting is as I no longer have a school year.
[11:56] I mean, I guess my youngest still has three years, sort of a school calendar type.
[12:03] But. Yeah. How much that sticks once your kids.
[12:08] Tara Bansal: Are no longer in school?
[12:10] Christina Donovan: I mean, I've read for some people it does. But. Yeah, I didn't feel it as strongly this year, I'll be honest.
[12:18] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[12:19] Christina Donovan: And some of it for me, you know, I am officially an empty nester in the sense that I right now have no kids in my house and Jack will be coming, my youngest will be coming back and forth from college.
[12:33] So it's not a completely empty nest. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see.
[12:43] That's a big change,
[12:45] you know, and I'm not sure how typical this fall it will be, you know, just because it's a transition compared to next, you know, the next couple years. We'll see.
[12:58] Tara Bansal: What would you like to share about your triathlon? You did it. Which took me.
[13:04] Christina Donovan: I did it. I finished it. Yes.
[13:08] No, I think it was a great experience. I'm glad I did it. And. And I guess if you are thinking of doing a triathlon or something like that, I,
[13:18] I do recommend it. I think it really, if you're someone who Likes to work out or has a regular workout routine.
[13:27] It definitely, for me, kind of changed it up a little bit in a good way. Um, I mean, I'm back in my old routine,
[13:35] but it. It's made me view my old routine a little differently.
[13:39] Um, and I don't know, I think it's.
[13:45] For me,
[13:47] I pretty much have a set exercise routine that I do five days a week, and it doesn't really change that much. And I don't want to say it's become easy, but I guess I was surprised at how much doing a little more made a difference in terms of adding some.
[14:09] Like, I was doing biking and swimming in addition to, like, strength training and running that I normally do. And yeah, it. I think it's. It helps show you that you can always do more.
[14:24] But also, I mean, I guess the one thing is. It does. It is a time commitment.
[14:29] And I was lucky because I hit a point where I was just kind of starting to feel like this is getting too much in terms of the training, in terms of the time commitment when,
[14:41] you know, I did my race and it ended. So that is hard. I really have a lot of admiration for people who work and train for these because I have a very open, flexible schedule.
[14:56] And I think,
[14:58] you know, to have the dedication to train for something like that when you're also working and have family,
[15:04] I don't know.
[15:05] Tara Bansal: It.
[15:05] Christina Donovan: That's. It is a lot, but definitely a worthwhile experience.
[15:10] Tara Bansal: Do you think you'll do another one?
[15:12] Christina Donovan: No, I.
[15:15] There were two things about the race that I did that I think made it more special or better for me, and one was I did it with my roommate from college.
[15:25] But the other was that it was a women's only event, which,
[15:30] the more I think about it, that was a really great thing for me, and I loved that aspect of the race. I didn't really think about it going into it, but once I was there.
[15:42] So, yeah, I think if I did another one, I would do it,
[15:46] do the same one. And I don't think I would ever do it without somebody. I don't know.
[15:53] My roommate from college who I did it with. This was her fourth time doing it,
[15:57] and the three previous times she did it by herself. I guess a lot of people do it by herself, but it's. It is very.
[16:06] It makes it a lot easier to have a partner or someone there kind of not also in a training stay together,
[16:14] but just stay together. But we were there at the beginning.
[16:18] We saw each other during the race, which for me was like that was, like, the high, like,
[16:24] on the bike. I was just. I spent most of the race looking for her, like, when I was on the bike, like, which was a great distraction.
[16:33] Yeah. I don't know.
[16:34] And then we were together at the end, and it's this idea that, you know, you've done. You've pushed yourself together with somebody else. I don't know. That was a big piece of it for me.
[16:44] And I think a lot of, if I do it again, I would want to do the one that we did out in Minneapolis, and I'd want to do it with her.
[16:52] But. So, yeah, I do. If you're thinking about it,
[16:55] I would recommend trying to do it with a friend or a buddy.
[17:00] I don't know. I think that definitely helped me.
[17:04] And if I do it again, I'd want to do it with somebody.
[17:07] That's great.
[17:08] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And how has it helped you or how. How is it helping you to rethink your current workout routine? Yeah.
[17:23] Christina Donovan: The idea of doing some new and different things, I think, like, just.
[17:28] Tara Bansal: To change it up or have a goal to work towards, for instance.
[17:32] Christina Donovan: Well, I mean, one of the things.
[17:34] The swimming made a tremendous difference in my core,
[17:37] which was not something I had really anticipated at all.
[17:43] But I know, like, after. I mean, I swam from basically mid May through mid August,
[17:51] I definitely.
[17:53] I felt it, and I saw, like, a definite change.
[17:58] So, yeah, I think it's that idea that, you know, if you do the same things every day, every week, you.
[18:04] Tara Bansal: Get the same results.
[18:05] Christina Donovan: Right. And. Yeah, and I think just. Even just from a general fitness level, doing some different things, I think can really improve your. Your fitness. Yeah.
[18:18] Tara Bansal: And I know,
[18:19] like, we're pretty disciplined to do our workouts and work out regularly,
[18:24] but I know some people that they, like, need to have something to work towards, and they just, you know, plan out and.
[18:33] Christina Donovan: And that was one of the reasons, actually. I've always shied away from doing, like, any type of running race or like that, because I never wanted the pressure of having.
[18:46] I enjoy running. Like, it's something I like to do, and it's this idea that I have to do it, I felt like, would diminish,
[18:55] I guess, or would make it seem more like a chore or something I didn't want to do.
[19:00] But I do have to say I did have that during the summer, where a lot of times in the summer, I won't run with the heat and the humidity. I don't.
[19:08] As I've gotten older, that's become harder. But I ran more this summer Because I would wake up and be like,
[19:17] it's too hot, it's too humid. But then I would think, oh, like, it's going to be hot and humid when I'm doing my race in August in Minneapolis. And it made me go out and run, and it didn't make me not like it.
[19:30] I don't know. Like. Yeah, I definitely found the incentive was good and it didn't have a negative aspect to it, I guess, is what I say.
[19:40] Like, it pushed me to do things without necessarily feeling like, oh, like,
[19:45] yeah.
[19:46] Tara Bansal: Like, you hate to joy away from it.
[19:49] Christina Donovan: So. Yeah. And I think it showed me that I can run in the heat and the humidity if I really have to.
[19:56] Yeah. Like, you. You can make yourself acclimate to things better maybe than you,
[20:03] like, if you're pushed to. I guess I don't know.
[20:06] Tara Bansal: What comes up for me is I don't really.
[20:09] And I say that, like, I don't like to be pushed.
[20:13] And.
[20:14] And I. I think at least for me, the older I get, the more I kind of avoid discomfort.
[20:22] Like,
[20:23] and.
[20:24] And it's. To me, it sounds like this kind of helped you get a little outside your comfort zone. Definitely in a good way,
[20:33] you know, motivated you and to do some,
[20:37] you know, things you haven't done. So I admire you very much for.
[20:42] Christina Donovan: I mean, again, it was also the idea of just doing something new. I mean, I was. I was surprised at how nervous I was.
[20:51] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[20:51] Christina Donovan: But I think it was more the unknown, you know? I mean, I don't know, you hit a point, at least for me right now, where I don't have a lot of things that are new or different or scary.
[21:03] And so, yeah, in that respect, it was good, too.
[21:06] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[21:08] My Alex, my youngest, loves to ask adults,
[21:13] when was the last time you sprinted as hard as you could?
[21:18] Like, he loves to ask. And I do think it's an interesting question because many of us,
[21:26] I don't know, it's like,
[21:28] we don't push ourselves to that, like,
[21:31] as hard as we can.
[21:33] And I think as we age,
[21:35] at least, I don't.
[21:38] Yeah, it was interesting because mine, I think, was way back in the shutdown of COVID we did a family Olympics,
[21:49] and that was the last time I think I've, like, really forced myself to sprint.
[21:55] Yeah.
[21:56] And did you sprint at the end as much as you could or.
[22:00] Christina Donovan: I did not, but I have added on my short runs, I end with. I now do. It's like three 10 to 15 second sprints.
[22:12] Tara Bansal: Oh, wow.
[22:13] Christina Donovan: At the very, very end. And I Only do it when I do a short run. But.
[22:16] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[22:17] Christina Donovan: Because I have read that.
[22:19] Tara Bansal: That it's different.
[22:21] Christina Donovan: Yeah. It's a different type of intensity. So. Yeah.
[22:25] Tara Bansal: Anything either about the summer or looking forward to the fall that comes to mind?
[22:32] Christina Donovan: No, just that everything. Yeah. It's kind of a weird time for me.
[22:36] Tara Bansal: Yeah.
[22:37] Christina Donovan: You know, and it's fine. But it is.
[22:41] I.
[22:42] You wouldn't think a school routine. Cause, I mean, my son. My kids have been independent now. I mean, even when they were in high school for a while. But it does.
[22:51] It does sort of feel loosey goosey still. Like, I'm still figuring out a routine for myself right now, which is both good and bad.
[23:00] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And just to acknowledge that.
[23:03] Christina Donovan: Yeah.
[23:03] Tara Bansal: That structure is gone, you know, and noticing what about for you are.
[23:10] Christina Donovan: What are some of the things starting a new year that.
[23:17] Tara Bansal: I mean, I always.
[23:21] I don't know,
[23:23] you hear me talk. Like, I always want to, like, be doing less, and yet I then still end up doing more.
[23:31] I want to,
[23:34] like, carve out time to try to write,
[23:37] like, for my blog or different ideas that I have,
[23:42] and I haven't done that yet.
[23:44] But this one,
[23:49] like,
[23:49] concept of instead of rewarding ourselves,
[23:54] of thinking of what,
[23:57] like, what are the prerequisites to kind of show up as your best self. And part of it's rest,
[24:05] like, getting enough sleep, which is such a struggle for me,
[24:09] but also like, giving myself open windows of not having anything planned and kind of deciding and.
[24:21] Because that's what.
[24:23] I don't know. Different people have different prerequisites. The way I'm phrasing it, but like,
[24:29] to make the time to work out or. And. And we're good with that. But.
[24:34] And even, like,
[24:36] time to read.
[24:37] I do.
[24:38] But it's these other things of just, like,
[24:41] trying to open up and just see,
[24:48] be flexible of what I want to do during those open windows.
[24:52] Because it goes to, like, just.
[24:56] I schedule so much.
[24:58] And that's part of my problem is like,
[25:01] go from here to here. And I'm just cramming more and more in and recognizing that's not really what I want.
[25:10] And so how to help make that happen. Am I making any sense, Tina?
[25:16] Christina Donovan: Yeah, you are.
[25:18] Tara Bansal: But I know it's something I'm gonna have to work at and try to figure out. Yeah.
[25:24] Christina Donovan: It just seems really difficult because you are busy. You have a lot of. You juggle a lot of things,
[25:33] you know, between your work and your household, and you're really good with relationships and friendships.
[25:42] So. Yeah, I can see where that Sometimes is the only way to manage it. Really? Yeah.
[25:48] Tara Bansal: I mean,
[25:50] Tina and I went on a hike on Monday, and that was one of my, you know,
[25:55] things for the year was to. I think I put 12 hikes, but I'm not accomplishing that. But just trying to do that more is a huge thing for me.
[26:07] And.
[26:08] And also, like, I'm. I'm trying to see our parents, you know, at least once a month and making the effort to carve out that time, because that's something I know I want to do and putting that higher on my list of priorities.
[26:25] But. And that's. That is. That gets to.
[26:28] I feel like the perfect segue for Tina and I bounced around several ideas for our theme for this new season.
[26:39] And we have decided it's around connection and connecting and friendships, I think,
[26:47] is the different terms we're thinking of and just how they change as we get older. And for me, the importance of these connections.
[27:05] One of my themes,
[27:07] I think it was one or two years ago, was around connecting.
[27:11] And I really made an effort to try to call someone at least once a week that was, like, different. Like, I definitely talked to you, Tina, you know, but someone and.
[27:26] And just noticing that. That I don't and haven't done that with.
[27:31] Without having that intention as much,
[27:34] and that makes me kind of sad,
[27:36] just. But I don't know. We're going to explore more around our theme of connection this year. We would love to hear different ideas or different comments or questions that any of you listeners have for us that.
[27:54] And if you're willing to come on and talk with us.
[27:57] We always are looking for volunteers around that.
[28:01] I feel like you're the one that came up with. I guess it was on both of our lists.
[28:05] Christina Donovan: It was on both of our lists. But, yeah, I do think as we're in midlife, I mean, you have all these transitions and, I mean, I think it definitely affects our friendships both in a positive and a negative way.
[28:18] And that's where,
[28:20] you know, we want to kind of explore,
[28:23] like, what are the rituals or the habits that you have that help strengthen, you know, friendship?
[28:30] What are recommendations people have to,
[28:34] you know, stay in touch and to maybe develop new friendships and, you know, when is it okay to let go of a friend? And how do you do that? That was one of the things that I think more people come across now than they probably did in when they were younger,
[28:54] you know,
[28:57] and, yeah, I guess, you know,
[29:00] the different types of friends that we have.
[29:03] Tara Bansal: And even looking at the difference I want, like, between male and Female friendships.
[29:12] Christina Donovan: And yeah, because I think both Tara and I,
[29:16] our husbands, both have a lot of male friendships.
[29:21] I know you're nimit does.
[29:23] I mean, Matt,
[29:26] I'm impressed because they always talk about men not being as social or as having as many connections. Social connections as women. But I feel like both our husbands.
[29:40] Tara Bansal: Have done well with that.
[29:41] Christina Donovan: Yeah. I almost feel like Matt ra like he's way better than me sometimes in reaching out to people and maintaining those connections.
[29:50] Tara Bansal: So.
[29:51] Christina Donovan: Yeah, I agree.
[29:53] Tara Bansal: And the studies show,
[29:57] I want to say circle of friends continues to get smaller as we age.
[30:02] And there's, I think, some positives to that, that often they're deeper relationships. But there's some negatives to that too and to,
[30:13] I don't know, think about and look at that and trying to pull out how we can make it better and make our relationships more meaningful as we age.
[30:27] Christina Donovan: Yeah. Because I do think that the friendships that you cultivate in this kind of mid.
[30:36] Midlife phase can really become important, I think, in that final phase of your life.
[30:44] And it's sort of how to,
[30:47] how to do that, how to cultivate those friendships. So they're there as we move past middle age into old age.
[30:57] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I agree. So anything else?
[31:02] Christina Donovan: No, I mean, excited for the new season?
[31:06] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I am too.
[31:08] I love our topic and I think it's going to be fun.
[31:14] But as always,
[31:16] we would love to hear from you.
[31:18] And stay tuned. Stay tuned.
[31:22] Have a great day.
[31:23] Christina Donovan: We ended our episodes in season one with a quote.
[31:27] In season two, we ended with a general recommendation that varied from books to recipes to poems to gadgets.
[31:35] Now for season three, we are mixing it up once again.
[31:39] For our upcoming episodes, we will end with a quick tip or suggestion on enhancing our social connections and or friendships.
[31:48] So stay tuned.
[31:50] Tara Bansal: Thanks for listening to messy middle lessons.
[31:53] If you enjoyed today's episode,
[31:55] it would mean so much to us.
[31:57] If you subscribed, shared it with a friend or leave a quick review,
[32:02] it really helps more people find us and we're so grateful that you're here.
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