Puberty, Again? No Fair!

1. You Can't Do a Damn Thing About It. This is the cold hard truth: puberty and middle age are both periods of transition we have to go through. We can hide in our rooms, scream our lungs out, beat the floor, and whine 24/7, but the awkwardness, brain fog, urge to stuff our heads inside paper bags, and general malaise that makes us feel like aliens are inhabiting our bodies, is hard-wired in our genetic code.

The good news is: it passes. Puberty blossoms into adolescence and a sense of potent feminine power. Middle age? I'm still waiting for the outcome. At 54, I'm beginning to feel that I fit in my skin again. It's older skin, and there's more of it in places I'd rather it not be, but the shock has worn off. When I look in the mirror, I don't focus so much on the grey roots and deepening lines, but on a new landscape that has emerged out of the volcanic eruption called menopause. At puberty, I looked forward to growing up as fast as possible; at midlife, I look forward to slowing down and sucking every drop out of life. It's the same, but different. And both are beginnings.