Did you see what so-and-so posted? Can you believe what this one claimed? Is The Greatest American Hero really getting a reboot? Why is Lethal Weapon aiming for a 5th installment? These are just some of the tech-land mines users of social media have to navigate through. We sure have a plethora of information – a growing number of it being false – literally at the tip of our fingers or within eye sight at any given moment. It really is so. very. much. information. At any given time. While that can feel overwhelming it can – and you are going to have to keep reading here before you counter – be a bit comforting and helpful. If you know how to navigate through that social media land mine that is. I know you are probably skeptical at this claim so let me give you an example.

I am currently going through perimenopause. Which is basically a time in life when my body says, “you know, you seem to have gotten pretty good at navigating through whatever I throw at you. We can’t have that now, can we? I’m going to have to up my game a bit.” To which my mind and mood seemingly thought it was a great idea and decided to join in on the fun.

Side bar – it is not fun.

So, here I am, making my way through a new set of daily challenges and issues. My mood is all over the place. My weight has discovered the more the merrier. My memory likes to play magic acts and hide certain key things. My balance thinks it’s better off being a little off. My patience, well, that was never in check so really there is no difference there. In short, I have become this cranky old woman who doesn’t feel like doing anything she doesn’t want to do. Partly because anything I used to be able to do is now taking much more effort and concentration. A quick example for a clearer picture: staying awake to watch an entire movie has become a luxury.

While some of this has been a long time coming overall, I don’t think I am the same person I was a few years ago. Which can be disconcerting at best and a little frightening at worst. But the thing is, while my body seems to be sabotaging me daily I do have access to all this social media. Somehow, and I don’t remember doing a particular search, I just started receiving all these posts about perimenopause. And you know what? Aside from the creepy fact that it just started showing up without me searching for it, the content is comforting. I mean, after I sift through all the junk and misinformation. But at the core, just knowing there are others out there with self-sabotaging bodies is comforting. This craziness is actually somewhat normal.

My sister and I have discussed it a few times. I always mention I wish mom was here to talk to about all this. Sure, I would like her input on this but mostly I would like her to feel validated when all this happened to her. Mom lost her mom when she was only 24 years old so she missed out on having a mother guide through this season of life. Her mother-in-law passed away just when mom would have been starting this journey. All that was available would have really been friends. She went through this at a time when she could share experiences in person with a friend. And if the circle was small, she might have had to go through it alone. I don’t think it’s a secret to say doctors at the time were still in a state of practice about all this. There were probably few that could offer any validation. No, I feel like mom journeyed this season of life fairly on her own. Not knowing that what she going through is typical and normal and even to be expected. That must have been isolating to say the least. Because let me just say, it is one wild roller coaster of a ride.

So, to all the women of mom’s generation and certainly going back to grandma’s generation and further back I offer this retroactive validation and say: you are not alone. You are not crazy. Thank you for getting us to this point by visiting doctors and sharing with your circle of friends. We now get to have these huge circles of connection on this issue and guess what? We are not alone. You were never alone.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to buckle up. This ride is getting a little bumpy. Maybe I’ll put a movie in so that I can take a good nap.