The Importance of Community in Times of Change (Menopause is no Exception)

Everything healthy in life changes.  Everything healthy is subject to the laws of nature.  As humans, we are no exception.  On a microscopic level, we have cells that die and renew every single day.  Our skin is renewed every 2-4 weeks.  In Chinese Traditional Medicine, it is acknowledged that every seven years we leave one cycle of life and enter another, each cycle distinct from the last . 

We are asked to change when we have children.  We are asked to change again as those children grow and separate.  We are asked to change for jobs, for partners, for living situations.  We are even asked to change our habits and lifestyle as our body changes.  Change is a normal, healthy part of life.  It’s how we grow. It’s how we develop new skills.  It’s how we come to learn our resilience for this life.  

And even when we know change is the next evolution of our lives, we can still find ourselves in shock or denial, resisting what is to come.  We may feel fear of what’s next.  We may grieve what was.  We might even feel frozen, unsure of how to move forward.  We distract ourselves so we don’t have to feel the emotions arising around the change.  Adapting to change is rarely straightforward.  

Many of us have been taught to value independence so deeply that asking for support can feel like weakness.  In times of change, this belief can quietly keep us isolated, even when what we need most is connection.  

In times of change, community support is crucial.  Community is who holds us when we can’t hold ourselves.  Community reminds us of our strength, encourages us when we feel like giving up, celebrates us when we need to be reminded of what we are capable of, and walks with us as we move through the stages of change.  

Change is not a personal failure or something to navigate alone.  It is a natural, inevitable part of being human.  While independence has its place, times of transition ask something different of us.  They ask us to soften, to be witnessed and to lean into community.  In moments when change feels disorienting or tender, community becomes the steady ground beneath us, holding us, reminding us of who we are and offering strength when our own feels distant.  Together, we move through change not by forcing our way forward alone, but by being supported as we grow into what’s next.