The hottest topic in town: Menopausal Hotties...

Welcome back. This month we are exploring that ‘menopausal hotties’ phenomena: Invisibility.

As many women - including myself - have experienced “hello can you see me? I’m over here.”

To give you an idea if you haven’t yet had the pleasure, let me enlighten you. It goes a little/a lot like this:

One day you wake up, going about your day as usual, but for some strange, inexplicable reason no one seems to notice you. Poof! As if in a puff of smoke, you’ve become invisible overnight.

What the hell?!

It’s not a myth.

It’s a ‘thing’. It’s real!

Imagine this: Only yesterday, you were going about your business, people would cross the road to say hello, people would smile, step out of your way so as not to bump into you when walking along a narrow pavement (aka ‘sidewalk’ for our North American readers), be offered a seat, or an acknowledgement that you’re next in the queue.

Now let’s fast forward to the present day: While you’re at the supermarket check-out, fellow shoppers blatantly push in front of you. You’re in a restaurant and the waiter asks everyone how their meals are, meanwhile, you’re trying to catch their eye to chase them down to place your order.

Well excuse me!!! What in the hell just happened?

Then it hits you.

You’ve only gone and become f*cking invisible, and it’s not because you’ve taken delivery of a Harry Potter invisibility cloak!

It can seriously knock your confidence and change your perspective, potentially plunging you into a world of self-doubt and disbelief.

Well it doesn’t have to be that way. You can use it to your advantage.

Be like an invisible ninja - who strikes and is not seen - but maybe not quite so nimble; say the things you’ve been itching to say, but didn’t want to stick your head above the parapet.

The good news is now you can, and no-one will know who said it. Your cloak of invisibility has protected and saved you!

Most people when asked “if you could have any superpower, what would it be?” the top answer is invisibility. Maybe it’s not so bad after all; maybe it is a superpower, and it all comes down to a matter of perspective.

Well guess what? There’s a pretty good chance your menopause fairy godmother may grant you your wish as a menopausal hottie.

Let’s get prepared to muster and master this superpower!

Moving forward, onwards and upwards, it’s time to regain some control after the initial stages of shock and denial. Chin up, shoulders back, head held high.

It’s time to embrace and develop this superpower, albeit tentatively and a tad unwillingly! I’ve made it a personal mission to try to harness and master this power to my advantage. I now think of it as being like a ‘secret agent’.

So how would you use your invisibility superpower?

Quite by accident, I discovered a way to temporarily remove the invisibility cloak. Joy of joys, oh boy was this a real insight.

I realised that: I am in control, and NOT, ‘it is in control of me’.

There I had been, dressing in black, greys and other ‘blending in to the background’ dreary colours; confidence was low, as was my head. Feeling a little fed up I decided to to some retail therapy as a pick-me-up. Not clothes shopping, as I find it frustrating trying to find clothes for my changing shape.

Accessories and footwear however, are a completely different proposition! I stumbled upon these totally awesome ‘in your face’ pair of bright fuschia-pink boots. They instantly said ‘buy me’. So being such an obedient soul, I did!

Wow! They were like magic. Everytime I wore them, people I’d never met would stop me to comment ‘lovely boots; and admire my fuschia footwear. Young, old, male, female. Suddenly the invisibility cloak was gone. Irony of ironies, it magically disappeared!

“F*ck me I’m visible!” Woohoo - cartwheels, somersaults and high fives all round. I’d found my superhero’s outfit!

Check this (and me) out…I was chatted up while queueing for coffee by a very handsome guy, who paid me lots of lovely compliments, and all because I was wearing these bewitching boots. Although I was flattered to be on the receiving end of such lovely compliments, I felt quite flustered and ran away as fast as my boots would allow, with my matcha latte in hand.

It’s funny looking back, but at the time…I just hope the poor guy isn’t wondering what he did wrong and hasn’t been put off paying other ladies compliments in future!

This got me thinking - in between the mists of brain fog (but that’s another tale for another column…This invisibility cloak doesn’t have to be a permanent state of affairs. With a pinch of sass, a little bit of “hell yeah, I’m here world”, and a splash of colour - these ingredients all add up to a positive attitude which can make a whole world of difference.

So fear not. It’s a superpower and you’ve got *it* baby.. You’re (back) in control.

Do you have any invisibility stories? We’d love to hear them - we’re all different and experience things in our own unique way. And we want to celebrate ALL hotties!

In the next issue we will be discussing...ummm, hang on a minute, what was I going to say? Oh yes, I remember now, ‘brain fog’.

Till next time menopausal hotties, stay cool...

Love Julie

xxx