Believe it or not I’ve probably been in some stage of menopause for the last 4-5 years but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I actually decided to read about it. At 53 years old, I’ve moved past the night sweats and “gushing” (if you’re woman you know what that is) and now I’m in full blown menopause. Every 20 minutes or so I’m burning up from the inside out. One minute I’m cold - the next minute I’m literally crawling out of my skin. What’s so hysterical to me is that it took me years to actually read about this life altering event. I worked at Oprah for 15 years - I know from hundreds of pre-interviews that menopause is a big life event but for some reason I had never done a deep dive.
Last week, I was at the airport and saw a magazine on menopause and thought maybe I should pick this up? When I opened the magazine I was blown away because I had found my tribe. I was living every scenario, symptom, and situation (to varying degrees) as every woman featured on the pages. After basking in validation over my brain fog and forgetfulness, I went on Amazon and found an $11 fan to manage my internal “fire flashes.” This little fan is my constant companion. During the day she’s in my purse. At night I sit her on my nightstand so I can tap the button 3x to get a super cool flow of air at any hour of the night. It’s a game changer. I know there’s a lot more that comes with this midlife change - but for now my trusty $11 fan is helping me fight the internal fire with very little disruption to my life. Sometimes less is more.