Hello, my friend!
Happy Monday. The humidity finally broke, and I can almost imagine a glimpse of fall.
↓ In today’s email:
- This week’s inspiration: The last two weeks of summer
- Latest blog post: A Letter to Your Perimenopausal Vagina
- What I listened to this week: Sam Smith on Hazel Eyes
This Week’s Inspiration: The Last Two Weeks of Summer
Wishing you tranquil waters for the last two or so weeks of summer. I hope you’re catching your breath, finding moments to relax, because the late summer in the year of the Fire Horse is a hot, and fast-moving thing. And for most of us, far too intense.
This week, it became clear that the tropical weather has been tough on two groups of women at once — my menopausal gals, and those in our readership actually carrying life and water inside. The pregnant women.
It’s been a rough one. But the humidity’s broken, and we can imagine a glimpse of fall.
I hope, with your spare time, you’re surrounded by those that understand you, see you, give you context and grounding and joy in this world.
Happy late summer. Let’s talk soon.
Latest Blog Post
A Letter to Your Perimenopausal Vagina
Somebody once told you that you’d bleed regularly, and that if you weren’t careful you’d get pregnant. Someone else told you about childbirth. But has anybody ever given you "the talk" about where your vagina is going from here?
Most likely not. So I’ve written it.
I’ll be honest — I had some trepidation about this one. It covers what actually changes after 40, why "everything looks normal" is so often true and completely beside the point, the difference between two conditions that constantly get confused, and the treatment most women have never once been offered.
If it’s not for you today, no hard feelings. If it is, it’s the conversation nobody is having.
What I Listened To This Week
Sam Smith on the New Yorker Radio Hour
The gift of a 38-minute commute is a separation between church and state — between my professional and my private life — and the blessing of living in this part of Rhode Island. If I take the scenic route it can involve driving past two, three, even four beaches. In those 38 minutes, I often get time to listen.
No interview lately has been as heartwarming as this one, with Sam Smith talking about his artistic process, his coming out at age 10, and the evolution of his music.
I couldn’t help but notice he used the word "courage" at least three, four, maybe five times: courage to be himself, courage to be seen, courage to find his voice and accept himself too.
That, seemingly, is a universal theme for everyone.
The album it’s about, Hazel Eyes, comes out this Friday. Sending the interview to you meanwhile.
Listen to the interview here →
Happy week to come. Talk soon!
Dr. Catherine