Since first grade, I’ve loved to write. I began with stories for my dolls, moved to a column in my high school paper, and then published books for kids and adults.
In 2006, I began studying for an MFA in Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I relished the work I did for this degree, from the critical essays to the picture books to the novel I completed as my final creative thesis. I graduated on a cold January afternoon (Vermont knows cold!), warmed up and ready to take on the world with my newly honed skills.
Then WHAM!
I couldn’t write. I didn’t write. My mind spun with negative thoughts about my talent and my future as an author. I hit a wall of self-doubt and discouragement. For a year, I barely composed anything but emails and shopping lists.
Like the sky opening up after a morning of gloom, my despondence lifted a year later. Soon I was at the keyboard again, pounding away, working on a new novel. That’s when I put it all together and figured out my year of self-doubt was brought on by the hormonal roller coaster of menopause.
I tell this story not for sympathy. As I said, I’m now pounding the keys (not sure how great the words are, but I’m cranking them out).
I tell the story because self-doubt is one of the symptoms of menopausal moodiness, and I wish I had known. I don’t know how much that would have changed things, but knowledge, sometimes, can be a chunk of the menopausal battle.
So spread the word!
Photo: Thanks go to Facebook for the upbeat graphic.
Barbara Younger
Barbara Younger blogs from her home in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Along with Friend for the Ride: Encouraging Words for the Menopause Roller Coaster (http://friendfortheride.com), she writes books for children and adults. She lives in an old house with her husband Cliff. and collections of everything from dolls to buttons to bookmarks. She's the mother of two grown daughters and the grandmother to one adorable baby boy!
Join with Google
Join with Facebook