Between Chapters
What happens when you reach the life you once prayed for and realize you may be entering an entirely new chapter?
I’m honored to share that my personal essay, “When Success Stops Being Enough,” has been selected for Zibby Owens’ Between Chapters series, created in connection with her upcoming book, Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot.
For a writer, having your words selected is meaningful. Having them included in a project centered around change, reinvention, starting over, and the unexpected chapters of life feels especially significant.
Zibby Owens and the Story Behind
Between the Chapters
The bestselling author, publisher, podcast host, and literary champion Zibby Owens has built a community around something I deeply believe in: stories connect us.
Her upcoming book, Between Chapters, releasing September 22, explores her own experiences with change, unexpected opportunities, risks, reinvention, and discovering what can happen when life takes you somewhere you never quite planned to go.
But rather than making Between Chapters solely about her story, Zibby opened the conversation.
Through the Between Chapters Substack series, she has invited others to share their own experiences of being somewhere between what was and what comes next.
And really, haven’t we all been there? There are chapters we carefully plan… and chapters life writes without consulting us first. Sometimes we’re beginning again. Sometimes we’re letting go. Sometimes we’re discovering that the definition of success we’ve carried for years no longer fits the person we’re becoming.
And sometimes we’re simply standing somewhere in the middle, trying to understand what this particular chapter is here to teach us.
My Essay:
When Success Stops Being Enough
When I saw the invitation to contribute to Between Chapters, something about it immediately resonated. Because I am living in one. I won’t tell you much more than that here.
After all, this is a teaser, and your girl did write a memoir with “Secrets” in the title. I know how to keep at least a few things to myself.
What I will say is that “When Success Stops Being Enough” explores a question that has become increasingly meaningful to me:
What happens when the life you’ve worked so hard to build begins asking you to live it differently?
No spoilers. No neatly packaged lesson. Just an honest reflection from somewhere in the middle of a chapter I am still discovering myself. And perhaps that is precisely why having this essay included in Between Chapters feels so fitting.
The Next Chapter Doesn’t Always Announce Itself
We often recognize life’s chapters only in hindsight. While we’re living them, they can look like detours, pauses, unanswered questions, unexpected opportunities… or even endings.
Then one day, we look back and realize:
That wasn’t the interruption.
That was the beginning of something new.
I am deeply grateful to Zibby Owens and the Zibby team for creating a space where writers can tell these stories before every question has been answered.
And I’m especially grateful that they made room for mine.
My essay, “When Success Stops Being Enough,” is now live on Zibby Owens’ Substack.
Read the Full Essay
LIVE ESSAY: https://www.zibbyowens.com/publish/post/206168399?back=%2Fpublish%2Fposts%2Fscheduled
Read it, share it with someone who may be navigating a chapter of their own, and then come back and tell me:
What chapter are you in right now?
Because change isn’t just a moment. Sometimes, it’s a lifestyle.
As always, I hope this message has encouraged you. To live your life to the best of your ability. To shine brighter each day and be your best self. Yours truly. – Lin Green
Issalivestyle by Lin Green 