Ali Bastian Instagram – So this is 40! Thank you so, so much for all of your amazing messages. I had a lovely weekend filled with friends and family time and feel very grateful, especially in light of how alarming and turbulent everything is right now. Certainly makes me want to hold my fam a little closer. In terms of turning 40… it actually feels ok! … certainly a lot better than turning 30 felt! I remember really struggling with 30 – I was on the road touring with a musical, very lonely and homesick and actually spent the day in my digs in bed with bronchitis! I remember feeling that I wasn’t at the stage I ‘should’ be, as if there where these invisible boxes I ‘should’ be ticking… crazy really… Where my 20s were non-stop career wise, my 30s seemed to be about career and relationship highs and lows and getting well and truly lost in order to begin to ‘find myself’ … only to realise that I was never really lost to begin with, I was always there… just so busy I had forgotten how to feel. How to trust my instincts, how to listen to my knowing, how to sit with myself no matter how uncomfortable and uneasy and to comfort the parts of me that needed tending to… instead of running from them. In truth, I’m still working on ALL of this… I’m putting one foot in front of the other… but if 40 has invited in anything for me, it’s the deep desire to truly show up for myself and in turn, show up fully for those around me. 💜💫 *edited* It has just been brought to my attention that I have a baby wipe stuck to my foot in this photo 🤣… and that’s ok with me too. I’m here for all of it 😂💜