I'm Not In Menopause Yet.
Celebrate your path, name your pace, + Rick Steves on being a traveler, tourist, and a pilgrim.
Hey there, What’s been the best part of your week so far?
I think, for me, it’s been a surprise week of chilly, mid-winter sunshine. The sky is the perfect shade of blue, the trees are naked and fragile, and the contrast reminds me to make room for all the textures and colors of life.
Truly, there are poems seeping out of our mossy backyards and everyday corners and quaint kitchens, if we just pay attention.
This week…
🎉 I’m bringing you another vulnerable piece, but instead of poop, it’s about my period and what that has to do with celebrating your pace even when you feel left behind in the dust.
⏱️There’s also a prompt for you to make up your own silly name for the pace you’re moving right now. Slug, slimy slow? Turtling? Whizz crack fast? Lumbering along? Tell me yours!
🌍And, finally, we buddy up with Rick Steves and see what he has teach us about taking the wandering way, whether we’re heading to Europe, or just traveling the streets of our little town.
It had been 2 years since I’d seen blood in my underwear. The day my period made its raging return, I felt like a teenage girl buying pads for the first time as I stood dumbstruck before an enormous selection of pads and tampons at the grocery store- proud, embarrassed, nervous, sad, excited, relieved.
Historically, I knew my body takes A LONG TIME to metabolize trauma and process change, so when I broke my ankle a couple of years ago, I wondered if I would lose my period. And that’s exactly what happened.
I’m not proud of this fact. It probably set my bone health back a bit, but here we are. I’ve lost my period a few other times in my life and every time, I’ve had to remind myself to be patient, not pushy. I know my body withdraws quickly in seasons of extreme stress, curls in on herself, and shuts down unnecessary systems to help the rest of me cope and survive.
But I’ve learned something vital: when I’m navigating a difficult season, I need to speak extra kindly to myself. I have to coax myself into new realities slowly and quietly, as if I’m begging a timid deer to come closer.
As I waited and wondered over the past two years, I had to actively choose not to compare my path or timing to others around me. For me, this meant ignoring the cacophony of podcasts, books, and teachings about menopause. Oh my gosh!
While women my age were waving goodbye to Aunt Flow and cursing their tanking hormones, hot flashes, and mood swings, I was pleading for one more reunion with my period.
There were moments I wondered if my period had disappeared for good, vanishing without warning. Bring on the HRTs, I thought. My doctor even prescribed hormone pills to jump-start my cycle. But the day before I planned to take them, guess who knocked at my door?
Right on schedule—two years late but with all her fervor intact—my period arrived. (TMI? Nope. This is life, folks.)
The whole experience reminded me of something I often forget: your path is your path. There’s nothing wrong with seeking help—taking hormones, getting therapy, or reaching for what you need to find peace. And at the same time, there’s a sacredness to wandering through your own process.
Instead of rushing for quick fixes or alluring hacks, what if we let ourselves sink into our season?
Celebrate your path. Own your path. Learn on your path. Love your path!
We’re all on different schedules, walking at varied paces, and working through a plethora of challenges. While I’m a big believer in gathering advice and wisdom from trusted sources, we also need to combine that with our inner knowing, childlike curiosity, and intuition.
The experiences we go through are sacred and necessary parts of our story.
There will be times when the world seems to be moving on without you, when everyone else is prepping for their next stage of life, and you’re still hoping to catch up.
But healing, growth, and wholeness are not a race. They are already within you, exactly as you are. This is how we learn to trust ourselves.
Life can feel slow-going sometimes. You might feel like you’re walking in circles or, worse, going backward. You’ll wish for shortcuts or magic hacks- are we there yet?
But instead of rushing, be an explorer of the vastness that is you. Be curious about the trail you’re on, the discoveries you make, and the person you’re becoming. Take pages of notes. Trust the process.
Because no one has walked this path before. Not even you.
I bet there’s an area where you feel like you need to be further along than you are, you are falling behind, bringing up the rear, or dead last.
Be curious about…your pace right now.
In running, we have names for different paces and different kinds of runs, here are just a few…
conversational pace
tempo run
fartlek run
race pace
intervals
sprints
Create a fun name for your pace right now. Remember whatever your pace, it serves a vital purpose and soon enough it will change. Pay attention to what your body needs right now and also when it’s ready to switch things up.
This week I’m highlighting the iconic travel teacher and guidebook author, Rick Steves! If you’ve ever planned a European getaway (or just dreamed of one), you probably know him. Rick has a new memoir on the way, and after listening to him share on The New York Times podcast, The Interview, I’m convinced he’s the embodiment of a wanderer.
Rick’s story is such a refreshing reminder of what it means to choose an unconventional path—one led by curiosity, adventure, and fascination. His take on travel goes far beyond guidebooks and itineraries; it’s about transformation, connection, and looking at life through a wider lens.
Here are a few of my favorite takeaways from the conversation:
✨ On the different kinds of travel:
“You can travel as a tourist, a traveler, or a pilgrim. You don’t need to be all of one or all of the other. And what I like to do is free people and inspire people to mix it up…
A traveler learns about the world, but I think a pilgrim learns about themself. And you learn about yourself by leaving your home and looking at it from a distance. You learn about yourself, I think, by trying to get close to god in your travels. I mean, for me, the the greatest church is walking on a ridge high in the Alps…”
✨ On travel that transforms (vs. the Instagram kind):
“More people are traveling than ever before, but there’s not more transformational travel than ever before. There’s this superficial, Instagram, trip advisor kind of travel where you find…it’s very interesting, in Europe I find different places where suddenly, inexplicably there’s a mob of people and what’s going on? Oh, that’s where everyone stands to get their selfie with the Matterhorn behind them.”
✨ On fear, connection, and why thoughtful travel matters:
“We become less afraid of each other. The flip side of fear is understanding and we gain understanding when we travel. And that alone makes travel a worthwhile experience and when it’s done thoughtfully we come home and we live our lives as more thankful than ever that we’re American citizens but also better citizens of the planet. And that just makes my life richer, it makes it more filled with truth, and it gives more colors to my palette. I’m just really thankful for that kind of a souvenir.”
Okay! What do you think? Hit reply or leave a comment below!
Thank you for taking time out of your day to join me on this dizzying ride called life. I feel so honored to meet you here each week.
I’ve been sharing a favorite podcast episode and/or audiobook every day this month as an experiment, so I’ll see you tomorrow!
love your path!