The Third Act: How Turning 60—and Tuning Into the World—Became My Spiritual Rebirth

Jun 30
3 min read

By Kathy Baldwin

June is the month I turn 60—and I’ve never felt more alive, more clear, or more called to speak the truth of becoming.

Not in the polished, photo-ready way we’re often told rebirth should look. I mean soul-stripped, ground-shaking kind of reborn. The kind that comes after a breakdown so brutal, it burns off everything that isn’t true.

That was my Level 3 ascension. It came with chronic pain, financial collapse, isolation, and the deep reckoning that the life I built was never truly mine. I had to unlearn everything I was taught about success, safety, and being a "good girl." In that void, I began again.

Now, at 60, I’m not just entering my Third Act—I’m aligning with my soul’s design. I’ve become the woman who listens inward before she leads outward. Who knows that breakdown wasn’t failure—it was initiation.

And I’m not alone. My generation—Gen X—we're the bridge between analog and digital, tradition and transformation. Raised by silent survivors in crumbling systems, we were taught to suppress, endure, and perform. But something in us is rising. We’re not fading—we’re forging. Truth-tellers. Soul-bearers. Legacy builders.

And the world? She’s in labor too.

The Messy Middle: Personal and Planetary Awakening

Globally, we’re in contraction. Political division. Economic instability. Spiritual disconnection. Climate upheaval. These aren’t separate crises—they’re collective contractions. And like any birth, it’s messy, painful, and irreversible.

Just like my own breakdown. It wasn’t the end—it was the sacred start. My body forced surrender. My soul demanded truth.

Now, my mission is this: help others choose breakthrough before they collapse. Because the old way is unsustainable—and unnecessary.

Fear isn’t the enemy. It’s a flashlight. It signals: you’re off autopilot. This is sacred terrain. Choose wisely.

Emotions are not just personal—they are collective intelligence. Grief says something mattered. Anger shows where truth was denied. Fear invites presence. Shame reveals a lie. They’re not problems to fix—they’re invitations to feel, to rise, and to realign.

What the World Is Showing Us

As a Canadian, I watch the U.S. not with judgment, but with empathy. I see a country in its own Level 3. Grieving its identity. Struggling to remember who it is without control. That’s not weakness—it’s the spiritual messiness of awakening. And I’ve lived it.

Here in Canada, our recent election left us divided—but, in my view, primed for ascension. I believe we’re moving into Level 4: a space of collaboration, stability, and sovereign co-creation. I see the same pattern in my work—how Unlearn the Crap is evolving from a personal practice into a global movement. We’re not here to dominate. We’re here to become.

And just as we are being called into new forms of leadership and collaboration, so too is the masculine energy—individually and collectively. The rise of the divine masculine is not the fall of men. It is the remembering of who they are without the armor of domination.

Just as women did in the 70s, many men are now confronting the limitations of inherited roles and searching for a more authentic expression of power and presence.

They are grieving old identities—and that grief is holy. This is not a time to reject or replace—it is a time to repair and rise together. We are raising the next generation of sons. We must meet what hurts with love. Because love is the light that lifts us all.

Truth Hurts. Truth Heals.

We are all being called to Level UP. Emotions are not distractions. They’re instructions. They’re not weak. They’re wise. And if you’re in a position of power, ask yourself: what are you modeling—control or co-creation?

I’m not writing this from a mountaintop. I’m writing from the messy, magical, in-between space of becoming. I didn’t land here because I figured it all out. I landed here because I refused to give up when everything fell apart.

This is my Third Act. And it’s sacred, sovereign, and in full voice.

So is the world.

If you’re standing in your own ashes—don’t search for the version of you that broke. Look for who you’re becoming.

Unlearn the crap. Choose the truth. Birth is messy. But it’s how we begin again.

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