Paws of the Moon... because the moon never pauses

Menopause may be right around the corner for me and I don’t know what to expect. I’ve heard laughing comments about hot flashes and several times my mother whispered quickly that I should never take any hormone drugs. She said that all her friends who had taken those drugs had died. That’s the extent of my knowledge.

I didn’t know what my period was when it arrived. I would like to know what menopause is when it arrives. Why is there no cute, little book about what to anticipate? Something like, What to Expect When You're Expecting Menopause.

Amazon has books by medical doctors. It also has books with chilling titles like, Menopause Sucks: What to Do When Hot Flashes and Hormones Make You and Everyone Else Miserable.

You can also find books with discouraging titles like, The Menopause Makeover: The Ultimate Guide to Taking Control of Your Health and Beauty During Menopause.  For goodness sake! Can’t we just become gray and wrinkled gracefully and gratefully?  

I did find one happy title: Menopause 52 Brilliant Ideas, but then the subtitle disappointed me: Relief and remedies for the symptoms of menopause. Will I really need to “balance” my hormones, or will this be the new balance?

It would be good to have a little bit of medical information. What I really want, though, is to learn from other women’s personal experiences.

If I asked, what would women say it was like for them? Is it a discrete period of time or is it the rest of your life? Would they share a lot of information about their bodies, or would they talk about their lives? Would they focus on physical symptoms or about meaning? Is the experience different for women with children than for women who never had children?

For some reason, I expect to hear that this is an exciting time and that I’ll have a sense of renewal and new possibilities, but maybe I’m being unrealistic. I hope to nurture a wonderful, new life, but if menopause is just a physical ailment, what can I do to be healthy?

Am I the person who should write that cute, little book?  Do you think many women would be willing to talk to me and let me publish their experiences?

_______________

Addendum: Originally, seven women agreed to be interviewed, but in the end, only two let me interview them. I may not get too far on this project.

_______________

September 1, 2013: Look what I found online! A cute, little book about menopause!

Tarophilia

All tarot enthusiasts are inclined to collect. I love my Gaian Tarot and Robin Wood Tarot decks, and yet I still surf the net looking at other tarot decks. 

I haven't purchased a new deck since the Gaian Tarot arrived on my doorstep three years ago. However, I am intrigued by a relatively new deck called the Mary-El Tarot by Marie White. Sometimes I wonder if this deck is more art than tarot. At other times, I see amazing ideas in the images the artist has created.

The Hierophant card shows malnourished children nursing from aged breasts. My first reaction was, "Gross! Who'd buy an ugly deck like that?" Moments later, I realized how brilliantly this image interprets The Hierophant or Pope card.

It reminds me of the title of an old, New England primer: Milk for Babes Drawn Out of the Breasts of Both Testaments and of a saying attributed to the Jesuits, "Give me the child until he is seven and I care not who has him thereafter." Brainwashed with their mother's milk! And yet un-loved and un-nurtured. What kind of world will these babies know? This is a very clever visual interpretation, especially because it makes me uneasy.

The Mary-El deck has pretty cards, too. (Pretty is good!) In the Three of Swords, a sweet bird caught the swords instead of letting them pierce her fair breast. Now she just has to be careful where she drops them.

What decks call to you? What card images do you find particularly compelling?

When Sleep Is Elusive

You don't need to be a parent to find this funny. You can just feel the father's frustration. 

Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach:

I remember my dad frequently coming to my doorway while I kept my eyes shut and pretended to sleep. He would yell, "Go to sleep!" I wondered how he could tell I wasn't asleep!