Women in the Middle, Dance with Authenticity!

It might be time to reveal our true selves.

Photo by Ugur Arpaci on Unsplash

Happy Mardi Gras!

That’s New Orleans’s celebration of Fat Tuesday.

In South America and the Caribbean, it’s Carnival.

A time when dressing up, or undressing, costuming, dancing, partying, and playing are socially sanctioned. Put on parade even.

Tourists pay top dollar to oggle or join in.

And, as **Neela **so insightfully points out, sometimes we are more authentically ourselves when we put on those costumes and appear to be play-acting. Something we may normally hide has permission to express. For one day — be it Mardi Gras, Halloween, or a cosplay event.

One day.

Hmm. That’s a lot of hiding and covering up.

Neela asks us to reflect on this:

What would happen if we approached ordinary days with the same intention as Carnival — to reveal rather than conceal, to express rather than impress?

Serendipitously, **JoEllen**’s piece on Identity sits right beside Neela’s Carnival story. In it, she encourages us to:

Boldly own who you are and the qualities that make you you. You were created unique and with purpose. Don’t let anyone steal that from you.

I sense a timely theme here: authenticity.

This week’s stories grapple with making good choices — be that **Charisse’s about food and drink or [Thoughts](2)’ **thoughts about how we spend our time. Choices can enhance or destroy our health as well as determine “what to conceal and what to reveal.”

Maybe, as **Deanna** suggests, much of this is a factor of fatigue. As we age and tire more easily, we start to prioritize quality over quantity. We start engaging in life more meaningfully.

We read — or write — more books, take more naps, and plant more trees.

And if that meaningful engagement involves painting our bodies and faces and samba-ing down the street to horns and steel pan drums, go for it!

But whatever you do, don’t miss these evocative stories!

**Why You Need To Inform Your Son Before You Visit Them — Sarah Kyomugisha**

**Retiring Early — Thoughts a Thinking**

**Appeasing Myself After My 21-Day Fast Cost Me! (I Won’t Do That Again) — Charisse Tyson**

**Aging Into the Homebody Movement — Deanna Bugalski 💋**

**Why Carnival Will Break You — And Make You Whole — Neela**

**Owning Your True Identity: Stop Letting Others Define You — JoEllen Claypool**

**Wangarĩ Maathai: First African Woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — Marilyn Flower**

Check This Out!

Buy our anthologies for your friends, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, or sisters that you love.

We have published 3 three books in our series, The* Menopause Anthologies*.

They are funny and empowering, and some stories make you want to cry. They are what MP is all about!

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See ya next time!

May the Mighty Women of Middle-Pause be with you!

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Until next time…

Your Superheroes!

From Debbie, Cindy, Margie, Marilyn, Mary, BeBe, and Meg

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