Change the channel

Superconductor: a material that allows electrical current to flow with zero electrical resistance and expels magnetic fields when cooled below a specific critical temperature. Because they lack resistance, they do not generate heat or lose energy, allowing an induced electrical current to flow indefinitely.

I think I may be a postmenopausal superconductor.

Seriously. My theory: postmeno women are potentially extraordinary Earth energy channels.

“Earth energy”? Yeah, the energy that keeps this planet (of which/whom we’re all a part, just like mountains and beetles and puddles and weather) alive. The creative, expansive, regenerative energy that’s kept Earth evolving for the last 4.5 billion years, give or take. That.

We’re each of us a unique expression of the planet, rising to the surface for a nano-moment, like the foam on the tip of a wave before it folds back into the ocean. The life energy is always coursing through us, at all stages, but I think the postmeno woman is a superconductor.

As babies and children, that energy was all about growth and becoming. Then as adults, we’re coded for creation, be that of more babies, or community, or art, or whatever security our culture requires (in ours, that might be financial). We have a certain task in our DNA, yes? Birth something new and keep it alive. Focus on others.

Then, for women (also orcas, some whales, and an outlier of a chimp population in Uganda), comes menopause. The drive towards, and dedication to that task starts to smoulder, then burns away - we feel it burn - and clears the channels. Removes the resistance to anything else.

In the eyes of our dominant, patriarchal culture this renders us obsolete unless we’re content to be grandmothers. It’s a noble task, but not for every woman. For many of us, the experience we have of creating something/someone; tending life-supporting environments; building loving relationships with partners, friends and colleagues, and contributing to the survival of our species in whatever way we do best…well, that was school. We graduated. Once the fire goes out (drops below a “specific critical temperature”) and the fresh growth appears, we’re primed and ready for a new role.

Superconductor.

Expressing that life energy that flows from the planet and now, unresisted, through us. Each in our unique way. No expression too quiet or too loud; too big or too small.

That’s my theory and I’m drawn to explore it. Find ways to feel that energy, move it and live it.

Here’s another thing…

For twenty years I’ve dreamt of building something online. A hundred times I’ve got close, and a hundred times life events have taken priority, or I fell out of love with the internet, or - and this is the most common reason - I’ve chickened out.

So.

Much.

Chickening.

So this exploration - with no map - of our wild, postmeno nature rising, is me giving myself one last chance, because it feels really important. If this doesn’t get me dialled in, then nothing will. Either I do it, or I get off the internet and stop wasting your time and mine. That’s a promise to both of us.

But if this has lit little candles in your heart, stick around. I think you’re a superconductor and I’m gathering a sisterhood (maybe with honorary brothers and others).

All the things I’ve dabbled in and set aside over the years are starting to look less like a scattered life and more like a curriculum. I’ve learnt some stuff and it’s time for me to put it to use at last.