So, picture this: The epitome of timeless beauty, smarts, and sass struts her 58-year-old strong-assed self right up to a podium on Capitol Hill. Who’s that gurl? None other than Catwoman herself, Ms. Halle Berry. The “why” behind her appearance on The Hill is, truth be told, even more impressive than her Oscar win. She’s there advocating for passing the Advancing Menopause and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act. Yup, you heard that, right! A powerful woman in midlife is using her voice to say… we are HERE! We never went anywhere, and you can’t ignore us anymore!
Halle hits the ground running, dropping some truth bombs about menopause right off the bat. “I’m not ready to be put out to pasture!” Can we get at Halls, Yeah? Witnessing menopause having such a spotlight moment, without the typical silver-haired Golden Girls look, was empowering.
But hold onto your hot flashes because Halle’s got more wisdom to share. She’s like, Hey, world! Did you know that menopause isn’t just about saggy bits and hot flashes? It’s a whole new chapter of life, baby! And we’re here for it, cheering her on like she’s just won an Oscar all over again.
When you think this is all just a fist-pumping pep rally for women of a certain age, Ms. Berry gets real. She shares some wisdom about estrogen and its wild rollercoaster ride through our brains, which prompted us to do some research. We found more evidence that medicine needs to step up and meet us where we are.
Did you know that women are around twice as likely to be diagnosed with early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease? Hormones play a big role in our brain health. When estrogen starts to waiver, we go through so much more than just mood swings.
Want some more “fun” facts about women’s health? Turns out, we ladies have a knack for dramatic exits after a heart attack, unlike our male counterparts, who apparently have better survival rates. 11.3% of women die within 30 days of a heart attack compared with 3% of men. 1 out of every 3 deaths in women is caused by a cardiovascular (or heart) problem. That’s no fun, but like the afterschool special says, the more you know. Information is power. Protecting your heart and your brain is a must-do in midlife, for sure!
But back to Halle Berry. Bless her heart for shattering the myth that menopause comes with a specific “look.” Seriously, her doctor… a medical professional—said, “You don’t look like you’re in menopause.” Yes, you read that right, and we’re with you. What the actual (insert colorful term here). Ms. Berry was having none of that, and neither should any of us!
Taking a page from her playbook, and countless women in midlife have gotten their hands on it, too, we did a new thing. Was it scary? Yes. Was it out of our comfort zones? Um, yeah. Were there moments of doubt and lots of mistakes made? Indeed! Was all of that worth it? Absofreakinglutely!
Welcome, The Ultimate (un) Journal: A pick your own adventure journal for people who suck at journaling. We put our heads and over 3,000 collective hours of coaching together and birthed maybe the only journal out there that is 100% doable for anyone! How do we know this? Because we both suck at journalling! Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.
We’ll get deeper into the journal, our coaching practice, the new membership options here at The Midlife Shitshow, and more in posts and episodes of the podcast. But we want to leave you with a resource directly inspired by Halle on The Hill. Get your free Menopause Support Meal Plan today. Let us know what you think, where you are in this journey, and what sorts of guests and resources you’d like us to land for ya. The ultimate takeaway from Halle’s speech was that we aren’t in this alone, and supporting each other is where our power comes from!
Links:
The Bill
Alzheimer’s Association
American Heart Association
European Society of Cardiology (this is where the stats come from on heart attack)
