My Menopause Blog

This is me in 1988. Due to the ridiculous belief that I would remember the details of this photo for all eternity, and the meno-reality of my current recall, said details are now somewhat sketchy.

I spent 8 months trekking across Canada, on to Hawaii, then New Zealand, over to Australia, back to California, up to Vancouver Island then home again. Along the way, I had the pleasure of meeting several ancient trees. Judging by my rather well defined calf muscles I’m thinking this is a photo from the latter stages of that very physical trip, perhaps Yosemite Park or maybe Merse Island.

You’ll notice I’m hugging the tree.

Tree hugging, kissing and patting is a favorite past time of mine. I love trees for how they contribute to my good health and the health of the planet.

When I meet a tree like this old girl, I’m full of wonder. How did this mighty growth avoid the ax, violent weather or ravages of fire for its entire, several hundred year life? If it could speak, what would it tell us?

Next question. Would we listen?

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,tree hugger,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, memory, menopause relief, attitude, information on menopause,menopause symptom, trees, wisdom, womens health news, Merse Island, menopause symptoms .

On Sunday I arrived one hour early for my Shiatsu appointment because for the first time in my life, I forgot that I was suppose to turn my clock back one hour. Daylight savings time is now over in my neck of Canada. For the next few months it’s dark, dark, dark.

Normally, I would not spend a found hour sitting in a cafe by myself. I usually seek company for such pleasures. But with a cold, damp wind blowing harshly, it seemed like the best thing to do to while away the time before my appointment really began.

The two women sitting within easy earshot or my table were in their mid twenties. I wasn’t interested in listening in on their intense conversation but to prevent such an outcome would have required earplugs or the too obvious ramming of my fingers in my ears. Still I tried to maintain my audio distance and instead focus on the activity of the kitchen staff. This worked pretty well until one of the women burst into tears.

When she finally composed herself enough to resume speaking she had this to say to her friend.

“She makes me so mad. I just want to say, listen Mom, I’ll call you if I need a recipe or if I get an infection but quit telling me where to put my couch and stop asking me when I’m going to get married.”

I’m not a mom but I thought I’d pass this message along. Just in case this is for you.

Sue Richards
Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,discernment,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, memory, menopause relief, attitude, information on menopause,menopause symptom, mothering, wisdom, womens health news, daylight savings, menopause symptoms .

Every now and then an email arrives in my inbox loaded down with wisdom. Today’s bulge of messages brought such a gem.

I can’t remember when I started taking an interest in psychology. I did end up with a university degree in the subject, but that outcome was almost random. My intention for post secondary education took the form of escaping a former life rather than pursuing a strongly held interest.

Nonetheless, I succeeded in passing the stated number of credit courses for my degree and there I was on the other side, a psyche major.

Psychology is like a gateway drug to myriad diverse perspectives. As soon as I realized just how many different ways people responded to the same stimuli, I was hooked on a life of exploring differences.

Somewhere along the way, Dr. Caroline Myss entered my viewfinder. According to her bio, “Caroline is dedicated to creating educational programs in the fields of human consciousness, spirituality and mysticism, health, energy medicine, and the science of medical intuition.”

My dad likely would have roared with laughter at such a wonky definition of self claiming loudly that “someone’s head must be up someone’s ass”. Fortunately, I am only my father’s daughter and not his thought slave so my response was more curious and no doubt open. Here was a woman who studied topics I’d never heard tell of before.

To shorten this story and get to the juicy good email clip let me say that I’ve read Caroline’s books, listened to her CD and attended at least one lecture. I don’t buy the whole mystic message but I do find some of her findings to be helpful.

And so without further ado, I offer Carolyn’s take on the act of discernment - which to me seems like a naturally evolving menopausal state of mind and a timely follow-up to yesterday’s post.

“Discernment is the ability not to be held prisoner by your own fears, and to recognize the wisdom in change, because change is constant and includes the ongoing stream of new ideas and people into your life.”

“Remaining open-minded is a wise position; learning discernment then becomes essential, as you are able to shift through new ideas, deciding which have merit and which lack substance. You are able to maintain a clear intellect. Becoming a discerning person is your greatest protection from becoming possessed — and by that I mean coming under the control of hysterical thinking, such as fundamentalism or social fears and mass-produced propaganda.”

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,discernment,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, memory, menopause relief, attitude, information on menopause,menopause symptom, caroline Myss , wisdom, womens health news, change, menopause symptoms .

Municipal elections are heating up in my town as a full slate of candidates march toward the November 13th voting date.

Used to be I believed that casting my vote was sufficient political effort to make. Other youth oriented beliefs included - my vote makes no difference, all politicians are the same and municipal politics are the least important of the three levels of government.

But like every other aspect of my life, all of these beliefs have changed along with the coming of my own change of life.

Please note. I’ve admitted that my beliefs, ones that I argued for and insisted on, have changed. Different. Are not the same.

Here’s my latest stance. When it comes to elections, it’s likely true that my vote doesn’t count very well if I don’t cast it mindfully, but it does still count.

If all politicians are the same then it can be said that so too are all menopausal women. But is that fair? Think about it. While we may have similarities with our symptoms and reactions to menopause, I’m pretty certain that our difference greatly outweigh those common traits. Casting a big net like ‘all’ does little to allow our unique character to show through not to mention reeks of disrespect and arrogance. People really are like snowflakes. Only when bunched together do we become a big ball of snow.

The slogan ‘Think Global, Act Local’ pretty much sums up the best level of government argument for me. It’s like pissing in a pool. If I let loose a yellow river, everyone ends up swimming in it.

Last week, with my newly formed menopausal belief system under my belt, I set out to attend my first political debate between the five candidates running for two positions in my ward. I purposely sat at the front of the very full room so that I could see as well as hear. I’ve learned that much can be understood about a person by what they say and as much by what body language they use when saying it.

All in all it was an illuminating experience that left me confident in whom to vote for and equally clear on who not to vote for.

Once back home, I could have left my civic duty right there. But this life stage seems to be loosening my lips and so I continued beyond the evening’s event and drafted up a brief email that captured my impressions and observations of the five contenders. Then I popped this off to a dozen people that live in my Ward. Next, I wrote a letter to the editor of our bi-weekly rag succinctly offering my view.

Both these efforts reach beyond my own needs as a voting citizen and come from a new belief I’m cultivating.

I have a rich life of experience to draw on and share. My slower pace has allowed me to hone my observational skills. And unlike my youth when I understood my beliefs to be carved in stone, permanent and unchanging, I see change.

I see change.

When it comes to running my city, I want the folks in charge to see change too.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,civic duty,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, election, menopause relief, Guelph Municipal Election, information on menopause,menopause symptom, voting, wisdom, womens health news, opinion, menopause symptoms .

Photo taken in my garden on October 24th.

Sue Richards

More of my photos can be seen on my Flickr account. Feel free to go here. If you want to that is. There’s no obligation. Really.

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,Flickr,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, memory, menopause relief, attitude, information on menopause,menopause symptom, photography , wisdom, womens health news, fun, menopause symptoms .

Photo: Taken in 1995 during a trip to India.

‘Going bananas’ is yet another aspect of menopause that trips me up more frequently than anything else that I can point a finger at. Fearfully hiding away in order to avoid “is this my foot in my mouth” situations is not my style. Instead, to aid me through those times when my mind, my mouth and my memory refuse to cooperate I have several cheerful statements to draw from.

• “This is an example of menopause in action.”
• “Don’t worry, I’m not contagious.”
• “Did you say something that you thought I should register?”
• “You must be talking to my former self.”
• “I am no longer responsible for remembering anything.”

Of course if I find myself in a tense, tight position, I throw out my newest motto, “I’m forgetful, not stupid.”

Feel free.

Sue Richards
Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,bananas,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, memory, menopause relief, attitude, information on menopause,menopause symptom, photograph , wisdom, womens health news, fun, menopause symptoms .

Photo: Taken in India in 1995.

Since my abduction by Planet Peri-Menopause aliens eighteen months ago, I have started running into walls. These are not walls made from Red Tape created by burocrats. I’m talking about the real lathe and plaster McCoy’s - and me - hitting it off.

Usually I clip the corner as I try to turn down the hall at the top of the stairs. But sometimes I simply misjudge my position and plow right in, face first.

My ‘what could be the reason behind this not so pleasant behaviour’ checklist looked like this.

* Drunk? No.
* Eyesight shot? Tested perfectly.
* New walls? None.
* Menopause? Maybe.

Apparently there is likelihood that the new felt stress and profuse sweating that walks hand in hand with menopause can cause potassium deficiency. Potassium deficiency can manifest in the form of clumsiness and wall crashing.

Now I ask you. Will the charms of this life stage ever cease to amaze?

A quick and relatively easy way to increase potassium intake is to eat bananas every day. I say relatively easy given that Canada isn’t know as the Banana Belt of the world. Thankfully we’re buds with many banana producing countries and the nicely self-packaged fruit travels relatively well. Still other sources of potassium include potatoes, fish, molasses, nuts, brown rice. legumes and some dried fruits.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,potassium,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, banana, menopause relief, diet, information on menopause,menopause symptom, deficiency, wisdom, womens health news, menopausae stress, menopause symptoms .

Following in the footsteps of yesterday’s post: Five Things Feminism Has Done For Me I had this thought.

Was there anything that I was doing today that wasn’t somehow connected to the feminist movement?

I could not think of a single thing.

My work, level of education, health care options, choice of lifestyle, choice of fashion and choice of friends - and I dare say choice of facing and engaging my menopausal years the way I am has some thread leading back to a feminist mindset.

I see, feel and live with a sense of freedom thanks to my belief that women are equal to men. Men and women are not the same - not even close in many cases - but we are certainly not inferior.

For some, feminism is a four-letter word. Those who assume power must be forcefully owned and not shared are unlikely to release their grip on that belief. It is their nature to go forth and conquer. Until we as a society can understand the necessity of advancing our thinking beyond such archaic attitudes and recognize the one-ness of the world - our collective home and humanity - then feminism will take a beating.

And yet, a funny thing happens when people get pounded for no good reason.

They rally and blog about it.

Sue Richards

Tags: My Menopause Blog, my menopause blog,Five Things Feminism Has Done For Me,Sue Richards, peri-menopausal, power, menopause relief, attitude, information on menopause,menopause symptom, feminist , wisdom, womens health news, feminism, menopause symptoms .