Lives in Cardiff
Age 49
Circus tutor, teaching assistant, Mum Juggling
Swimming in Penarth at sunrise
I’m interested in being part of this exhibition because I really feel like I’m about to start all of this, it’s just ahead of me. I'm 49. I don't really know much about it, and so being a part of this is going to help me learn a lot about it.
Some positives about being at this stage of my life is that I’m able to make better judgments, and better decisions. I’m more confident now, and in my 40’s I now know what I want, and what I like, and I’m definitely more conscious of walking away from things that I don't want or need anymore, and I’m much better at making those choices.
Some negatives are, feeling past the peak of many things; past the peak of my fitness, past the peak of the physicality of my body. My hair went grey at an early age, and although I dyed it for a while, I really enjoy the freedom of not dying it anymore. It’s fully grey, but I’m fortunate as it’s quite light. I still want to feel attractive, and I still want people to find me attractive because I find this exciting, but there’s no longer a need to try to be attractive, or to try to keep up with peers. Some mornings there’s like bags under my eyes, and some wrinkles here and there, and so these are the some of the negatives that I find. There is beauty in an older person, and with acceptance there is a relief and I embrace this. We are still attractive, but in a different way.
I don’t think I have any symptoms of peri menopause yet. The only thing I did start to notice maybe two or three months ago, is that I had a few periods that were closer together than usual. I’m normally like clockwork - every 28 days, and it would make it very easy to know when they were coming. I am aware of other symptoms from what I have read on the subject online, for example I know that you can get headaches and sore breasts and things like that, but I seem to have been getting these symptoms as part of my menstruation. Some months on the day, or the day before my period starts, I would have a headache that would last all day and maybe about a week before a period I could have tender breasts.
When I was 42 I had my son, and I decided to get the placenta encapsulated. I have a tincture, and I keep the capsules in my freezer, the idea being that they can be used instead of HRT. I’m not really sure of the exact truth of this, I think it’s something to research further, but I have them if I need them. I'm not sure how much evidence there is, but we’ll see… I’ll definitely give it a go.