Eleanor Tucker answers The Questions I Always Ask

This week, the former ad exec, author and sharing economy adviser on being an old soul & the liberation of not being "everyone's cup of tea"

Thank you for subscribing to The Shift. If you're already a paying member, thank you. Your support makes this newsletter and The Shift podcast possible. Paying members get weekly newsletters, culture round-ups, access to the community and the full archive, and more. All for less than the price of a (large) coffee a month.

What has been your biggest life shift?
The shift into motherhood, without a doubt. I was pretty self-destructive when I was younger and when I suddenly had other humans relying on me, it really changed my perspective. It’s a huge shift going from being someone like that, reckless I suppose, to being someone who has to look after themselves because they are so important to others. I think that this shift, in turn, helped me begin to look after myself for me, too. So the whole process was huge. And in fact it’s only looking back at it now that I realise how much my personality had to change, and did change. For the better, I hope…

What do you wish someone had told you about life after 40?
It doesn’t all fall into place quite as easily and quickly. So enjoy that period when you go to work on no sleep, or get the overnight bus somewhere and rock up feeling great after a mere spray of deodorant in the coach station toilets… after 40 it’s just not quite as seamless.

The best thing about getting older is?
Without doubt the fact that you’ve messed up so many times that you know for a fact that it usually doesn’t matter that much, and it will get better – and you will learn from it. When you’re younger with less experience you don’t quite believe all this, and it’s quite stressful. 

And the worst?
Hating the cold. I live in Scotland so this is particularly irksome. 

What’s your emotional age?
I actually think I’m quite an old soul: my grandfather used to tell me I’d ‘been here before’. I’m going for a solid 70. I asked my husband this and he said 70, too, so I feel quite confident about that answer.