My Menopause Blog

Menopause suddenly appears to becoming fashionable. In the natural world that is.

A week ago we heard about menopausal gorillas. Today it’s, guppies.

Fish as pets have never been my thing. I’ve caught fish, eaten fish and swam with the suckers. This past summer, I even bought a dozen gold fish for my wooden rain barrel, only to watch in horror as they bobbed one by one to the surface, belly up. Other than that, I’m not at one with fish.

So guppies, little minnow sized fish that give birth none stop, eventually out live their reproductive cycle, unless they get eaten first, then technically get thrust into menopause.

Guppies.

A scientist spent time and money working on this. Someone used their education as a biologist to get funding so that he could scoop a baggy of guppies from a stream in Trinidad, do a study, get interviewed about the study and release the findings to the world.

One third of the women of the world are in some stage of menopause and are in various levels of discomfort while some guy studies guppies reproductive lifespan! Sounds fishy to me.

Here’s my plan for a better menopause. We write a grant, use the funds for airline tickets and all head to Trinidad for the winter. We could even look up Dr. Guppie and give him something worthwhile to observe.

I feel better just thinking about that.

Sue Richards

Tags: Guppies, menopause, reproduction.

For the next couple of days, I’m focusing on my other blog Calendar Girl. To find out why, you can start reading here then follow the links.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, menopausal.

I’m choosing not to celebrate Christmas this year. It’s not the first time I’ve given the pressure cooker event a miss. In fact, I’m on a steady annual restrictive diet of anything xmasy that feels busy, obligatory and doomed to disappoint because the hosts are so hung up on “The Perfect Christmas.”

I’m not depressed, angry or forlorn. In fact, I’m cheerful, sleeping well, calm and quite content. It’s taken years to extricate myself from the chaos of the season and it takes focused diligence to keep guilt at bay. But man oh man is it worth the effort.

If you’re up to your eyeballs in turkey, stockings and sick youngsters, with parcels yet to wrap, cookies to bake and perfection to perfect, this diddy from my current reading list, may be the gift to help you through.
Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.

According to the author: “The more precise my vision of an outcome, the more likely I am to be disappointed. Things don’t turn out as planned. You don’t need to abandon your dreams; just don’t let them get in the way of what is happening. Observe the currents of life, accept what is happening, including mistakes, and continue working to create the best outcome. The key here is a flexible mind.”

Good luck.

Sue Richards

Tags: Perfection, Christmas, Guilt, My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Improve Wisdom.

Moving right along through the animal kingdom, I feel compelled to draw attention to the cougar. Not the feline version, the menopausal.

Apparently, according to my highschool aged neighbour I am one. A cougar. Even though, as I have stated numerous times, I’m a dog person.

This was news to me on many levels. Cougars were cats up to that point in my understanding of the world. To compare me with a cat was like saying cheese is like an orange. Maybe sometimes in colour, but that’s where it ends.

My nature is pure dog. Think body wag, wanna go for a walk, scratch my ear, gotta cookie, play chase a stick, then drop into a deep sleep curled up on the couch/bed/mat energy. Still, the cougar tutorial did explain a rather unusual experience that had recently occurred. I was sitting in a bar, waiting for my crowd of older farts to arrive for the celebration of something or other, when this young fellow approached, very close and told me he wanted to spend his life with me.

Dumbfounded I asked why?

Apparently, that’s not the right comeback. Our encounter pretty much fizzled out right then and there. A real cougar would have pounced.

Even though I don’t fit the predatory profile, I do think promoting the menopausal woman as a cougar is a good thing. Much more fun than say painting us with the dried up prune brush.

Sue Richards

Tags: Cougars, Older Women, Menopause , My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, menopausal..

AllHeadlineNews reported the following today:

“A study of female gorillas at 17 North American zoos found that, similar to women, they (mature gorillas) undergo menopause.”

Even though no other details were offered, my mind instantly started imagining a gorilla having a hot flash or mood swing. Forgetfulness….fur lose….itching….bladder control issues.

King Kong move on over….meet Queen Kong!!!

Very loosely related by time and the notion that ‘you are what you eat’, I offer my own menopausal study.

According to my conversations with one vegan and two vegetarian menopausal women at last evenings Solstice gathering, none had experienced a single hot flash.

Could the omnivore , of which I am one, be hotter than the vegetable filled?

And since gorillas are herbivores, the animal version of vegetarian, will they be blessed with a cool change of life experience?

Sue Richards

Tags: King Kong, Menopause, Hot Flash, My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, menopausal.

Although I’m a dog person, I live the life of a cat. I have had multiple lives.

During one of my previous lives, maybe in around 1999 - 2001 give or take, involved me doing something quite daring. I studied Improv at Second City in Toronto, then in turn taught what I learned to grade four, five and sixes, from schools throughout my province, Ontario. So taken by the power of what I was learning, I became an improv evangelist. I even started a bi-monthly comedy club in my city, hiring a crew of pros from Second City to put on the show, in an old school gym that I rented and licensed. What glorious, positive fun we had.

Then life took a turn and another life chapter began. I’ve lost count. Could be nearing nine.

Yesterday, I purchased a book recommended by my yoga instructors husband, a practicing meditator and Buddhist who I admire and trust.

The title:Improv Wisdom : Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.

Today, I’m all puffed up.

It’s a skinny little book. All the better really, given the premise. “Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up”.

Image. Just friggin show up. As yourself. You. No one else. And pay attention. Look around. See what you see. Then look again and see what you don’t see.

This alone will make you appear unique because everyone else is so busy trying to be something that they’re not, that being who you really are will stand out.

How handy. Aging and menopause just got way easier.

Sue Richards

Tags: Improv, Aging, Menopause,  My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, Wisdom.

My talented friend Jane used to be in a band called Courage My Love. She’s one of those people that puts your jaw on the floor the instant she takes the stage, be it to act, dance, play keyboard or belt out a tune. Courage to be her whole creative self, my good gawd, she’s got in spades.

And yet, I know she has stage fright.

I’ve been called brave in my day. People see confidence in my face and big toothy smile. I remember looking at myself in the mirror one day, a day that I was particularly terrified to face, and there was the look of self assurance. My face was doing it’s own thing. My gut another.

The disconnect between how we outwardly appear, and our inner experience is something that can work for us, like in Jane’s situation when she steps on the stage. Or it can trip us up.

If you look like you can handle everything, even though some help would… well … kinda help… chances are that help won’t appear. Unless someone has seen beneath the tough surface. Which is hard to do and can be a thankless task. Conversely, if you look like you can’t handle the simplest task, others can take over your controls.

Neither is particularly healthy.

Living life is not about being fearless. It about finding courage, my love, to be real. Especially as we age.

Sue Richards

Tags: Aging, Courage, Health, menopause, My Menopause Blog, Sue Richards, menopausal.