Creativity and the menopause

Posted by Liz on May 9, 2011 in Inspiration | 1 comment

I happened upon a tweet by my friend Amy Palko over the weekend:

“What effect does menopause have on our perception of ourselves as intrinsically creative beings?”

For those of you who don’t know Amy, she is a writer, educator and creator of a wonderful site called Bloom by Moon, where she explores the moon cycles and the goddess narratives in order to help women reconnect with their sacred feminine. Those of you who are regular readers of this blog may recall that Amy graced the pages of Flashfree last year and contributed a beautiful piece on acknowledging our inner dark goddesses, a piece that remains close to my heart.

So, back to Amy’s question on creativity and menopause.

Menopause, as those of you who are in the throes, are swirling around the “peri” or fully past it know, is time of great change, not only in women’s reproductive systems but also in their lives. Although Western society in particular uses menopause as an overall characterization of an aging woman, it actually goes much deeper than surface and physical changes. In fact, it is possible that the emotional changes that coincide with the transition may be what fuels creativity, particularly as a woman moves deeper into her life and her ‘self.’

Consider that creativity is not an easily defined construct, nor does does it manifest the same in everyone. Just like menopause.

Consequently, perhaps we should change the paradigm, shake up the system, shake up our systems, our beliefs, our viewpoints and our “selves.” Isn’t it time to view the transition the start of the second half of a life’s journey, where the lines that have been etched over the time period leading up to menopause become more jagged, looser and flexible, and where women finally start to allow themselves to “be” who they are rather than who and how others define them? Is it possible that menopause is an opportunity to expand how women view the world and their roles as opposed to shrinking into a self-imposed myopic state of nothing? Can hormone-driven mood swings and depression be spun into threads of passion, ink on paper, colours on a canvas, wherever and whenever the creative impulse strikes? Can we take the anger we feel as parts our bodies betray us and use that anger to fight harder for better, less dangerous menopausal remedies?

As I said, creativity takes many forms.

The opportunities are endless.

I am literally standing on the precipice of age 50 and swirling in the ‘peri’ of the menopause. I have made a promise to myself to take the reins and to stop asking for permission. I am ready to control as much of my journey as I can. My creativity may ebb and flow but at the end of the day, I’d like to believe that it is what I will use to guide the rest of my life’s journey.

You too, have a creative self and a creative soul just ready to emerge. What is it telling you? Moreover, when are you going to take charge of it and allow it unleash its beauty on the world?

Let it out. There really is no other choice.