Introduction to the Conversations Around Perimenopause, Menopause, and Postmenopause

Let's Start Talking About It

I didn’t start writing about menopause because I had all the answers. I started researching be in the past 4 monthly I've taken several left hooks from my hormones. So now, I'm writing because I have questions, women I talk with have questions, and because so many of us are quietly carrying them around like we’re the only ones.

Perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause. These words tend to land with a thud. Clinical. Heavy. Final. And yet, every single one of us who is lucky enough to age will pass through these seasons. Not as a straight line. Not the same way. Not on the same timeline.

And somehow… we barely talk about it.

This blog series is my way of pulling up a chair and saying: Hey. Let’s actually talk about this. Not in hushed tones. Not just when something feels “wrong.” And not only in exam rooms with the clock ticking.

I want this to be conversational. Curious. Sometimes funny. Sometimes frustrating. Often validating. A place where we can learn the language of what’s happening in our bodies without feeling broken, dramatic, or dismissed.

Why This Series Exists

If menopause were a one-day event—hot flash, party, done—we might have figured this out by now. But it’s not. It’s a long, winding transition with multiple phases, shifting hormones, changing identities, and a whole lot of “Is this normal?”

What I’ve learned—through research, writing, conversations, and lived experience—is this:

We don’t get a roadmap

We don’t get a shared vocabulary

And we’re often taught to endure rather than understand

This series exists to change that.

Not to tell you what your experience should be—but to help me recognize what might be happening, why it’s happening, and how to work with it instead of against it. It is my hope that you will also gain something this work as well.

Reframing the Transition

One of the ideas I keep coming back to is this: What if this phase of life isn’t an ending—but a kind of second puberty?

Hormones shift. Emotions recalibrate. Desires change. Our tolerance for nonsense drops dramatically. Our bodies ask for different care. Our priorities get louder.

Sound familiar?

Seeing this transition as a process—rather than a problem—opens up room for curiosity, strategy, and even (dare I say) possibility.

That’s why, throughout this series, I’ll be using a seven-phase framework to talk about menopause. Not because it’s rigid or universal, but because it gives us landmarks. A way to say, Oh. That’s where I am. Or, That’s where I’ve been.

We’ll unpack those phases together—slowly, practically, and without jargon overload.

What We'll Talk About Here

This is the groundwork. From here, we’ll dig into:

What perimenopause actually is (and why it can feel like everything at once)

The emotional and cognitive shifts no one warned us about

Libido, energy, sleep, rage, grief, relief—yes, all of it

Menopause as a moment vs. postmenopause as a season

How culture, silence, and medicine shape our experience

Ways to reframe, support, and navigate—not “fix”—this transition

Some posts will be research-heavy. Some will be reflective. Some will feel like notes passed between friends.

All of them will be grounded in the belief that knowledge is power—but conversation is relief.

An Invitation

You don’t need to know where you are in this process to be here. You don’t need symptoms that “count.” You don’t need to be struggling—or thriving.

If you’re curious, confused, irritated, relieved, or just wondering why your body feels like it changed the rules overnight… you belong in this conversation.

This is the beginning.