Creative Meanderings

It’s a cool 24 degrees (C) / 76F today and I’m loving it. It’ll return back up to the low 30s/high 80s tomorrow onwards, but the little reprieve from the heat is definitely doing this lady some good.

While I may sometimes casually wish for more traditional ways of life, especially when it comes to social normals, there are some aspects of the modern age that I feel are better. One of the improvements on a social level is the more open discussion and sharing about what happens to women as we age. For far too long the female gender has allowed the males to define, label, and treat us as crazy, all-in-the-head, weaker sex. Well, the tables are finally starting to turn, but it’s by no means balanced yet.

When I was younger, I learned about sex from being abused by adult male figures or from films or from books. By the time I reached the age for sex education at school, I was already informed. So, when I was the first amongst most in my age group to become sexually active, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. Not that it was right, but it was the way it was. My parents did their best to broach the subject with me, but it wasn’t necessarily a comfortable conversation with my friends let alone with adults.

Also, when my body matured and I needed feminine products, there wasn’t much of a discussion – it just became part of the shopping list. Later, when I lived abroad, I learned to navigate birth control and other matters on my own since check ups and doctors differed by the country. Still, very few of my female friends and I discussed our cycles or body issues.

These days, my peers and I are hitting the menopause phase of life and so there is a lot of confusion, questions, and bewilderment. Thankfully, more ladies who are already in this phase or out of it are starting to share about their experiences, learnings, and advice to help us out!

One of the common pieces of advice I have received is “just do HRT, it will make everything better”! While I’m definitely for making everything better, I’m not a fan of synthetic drugs unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, I have people around who are like-minded and have given me some more natural options and literature to read up on what might be best.

My first place to start is through a book called It Must be My Hormones by Marion Gluck and Vicki Edgson. The combination of medical information, nutritional awareness, and the case studies is very helpful so far.

Based on this information and advice from someone, I’ve got a recommendation for a clinic that focuses on bio-identical hormone therapy in Rome. My next step will be to make an appointment there for next steps, so stay tuned as I update here on that when it happens.

In the meantime, I have become more and more aware of how little we know and understand in our youth about how poorly we treat our bodies with no concern about the longevity of them. Since we cannot see inside our bodies and never learn about how to use blood tests to regularly monitor our health, we abuse them without a thought. By the time we experience pain or discomfort, the damage is mostly done with either a significant amount of effort required to repair or an acceptance of the decline as the only solution.

I’ve been pretty lucky to have a healthy body inside and out most of my life. Although I do know a good amount about nutrition and health, I definitely have not always been fully aware of my body. These days, I have some aches and pains. My spine has been called old already at just 48 years old. This is despite doing yoga and eating relatively well. Some things you cannot do anything about.

Of course, I am getting physio for different parts of my back, posture, and such. I am eating even better – or trying. I take my vitamins that are organically/naturally sourced. I drink kombucha brewed at home. I have lions mane coffee with collagen and mushroom elixir. I have green juice filled with tons of vitamins and minerals.

Plus, I do yoga stretches, walk on the treadmill at least 20 minutes each day, and stay active-ish.

Seems like everything should be grand and yet, I still am not 100%. More like 95%, which is still good, but I notice that 5%.

This brings me back to the beginning. Heat is no longer my friend. Thankfully, I think my vitamins have helped curb my hot flushes a bit, the heat triggers an overheated devil in me. I’m definitely happiest these days with partially cloudy skies and a cool breeze. Now, I just need to find the perfect place to live in that kind of climate!

~ T