Menopause, when it occurs naturally, is often a very gradual process, spread over a long time, usually several years. The actual cessation of the menstrual periods is an event which can only be recognised retrospectively. It’s likely that after being accustomed to erratic or infrequent periods we shall one day look around and realise there has been no bleeding for a whole year and we are officially “menopaused,” biologically at least.
Likewise, there may be a day when we look around and suddenly notice that the feelings and sensations which used to characterize the menopausal life stage have gently given way to a lighter, calmer, and more mellow way of being and that our long, slow emergence from the cocoon is complete. We have become, as Mary Daly would say, a “Free/wild Crone.”
MARIAN VAN EYK McCAIN
Adapted from Transformation through Menopause (Bergin and Garvey)
Next step: Surplus of existence