Somewhere along the way, menopause became a quiet thing.
Something spoken about in hushed tones.
A phase we joke about to soften it.
A future we pretend is far away - until it isn’t.

At 35, I’m not quite “there” yet.
But I’m close enough to feel its shadow in conversations, in my body, in the women around me.

And if I’m honest?
The way we speak about menopause terrifies me more than menopause itself.

Because what I’ve been taught directly and indirectly,is that menopause is an ending.
The end of youth.
The end of desirability.
The end of vitality.
The end of… relevance. But really - is it??

But what if that’s not true?

What if menopause is not a closing chapter…
but a transition?

We Need to Talk About It Earlier

We don’t start talking about menopause when it begins. We start talking about it when it disrupts.

When the hot flushes come. When sleep disappears. When moods feel unfamiliar.

But by then, it feels like something is happening to us - not something we were ever prepared for.

As a 35-year-old woman, I want more than reactionary conversations.
I want language. And if you know me, you know I'm huge on having a language for things to understand what I'm dealing with.
I want context.
I want to understand my body before it feels foreign to me.

Because menopause doesn’t start at menopause.
It begins long before... in the subtle hormonal shifts of perimenopause, sometimes as early as our mid-30s.

And yet… silence. WHY?

The Fear Is Not Biological - It’s Cultural

Let’s be honest. Hot flushes are uncomfortable. Hormonal shifts are real.

But the deeper fear? It’s what society attaches to this phase. We live in a world that celebrates women for being young, fertile and accommodating. So when a woman enters a phase where she is none of those things in the same way…
she is made to feel like she is disappearing.

But I look at older women in my life — and I see something else entirely. I see clarity. I see boundaries.
I see a refusal to shrink.
I see power that is no longer asking for permission.

That doesn’t look like an ending to me. That looks like evolution.

My Body Is Not Betraying Me

One of the most harmful narratives is that our bodies “turn on us.” No. My body is not betraying me.
It is transitioning me.

Just like puberty did. Just like pregnancy did. Just like every version of becoming I have already survived.

Why do we honour those transitions but shame this one?

We Deserve Better Stories

What would change if we told the truth about menopause? Not just the symptoms but the expansion.

What if young women weren’t only warned…but also initiated? What if menopause was framed as a reclamation?
A shedding of expectation?
A return to self?

At 35, I’m Choosing Curiosity Over Fear

I’m not waiting for menopause to arrive like an unwelcome guest. I’m choosing to learn and actively so.
To ask questions. To listen to women who are living it.
To take my body seriously - not only when it demands attention, but while it is still whispering.

I’m choosing to see this phase, whenever it comes, as part of my continuum. Not a disruption of it but part of life's journey.

Let’s Destigmatise This — Together

Menopause is not a punchline. It’s not a decline. It’s not something to dread in silence. It is a natural, powerful, biological transition that every woman who is privileged to age will experience.

And maybe…
just maybe…

If we start speaking about it now, openly, honestly, and without shame, we won’t have to unlearn fear when we get there.

We’ll meet it with understanding. With preparation and with the utmost grace.

And maybe even… with power.

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