The Empress Book Club: Hagitude📚👑
A conversation with Dr. Sharon Blackie and Kimberly Wilson!
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Fellow Empresses, Happy Weekend… How the hell are you?
Belated Happy World Menopause Day! We had no power here for the actual day due to climate change, which struck me as oddly appropriate… given Menopause and Climate Change are both poly-crises that are going to be impacting more women than ever in the coming years. Over a billion women will be going into menopause in 2025 and climate change could push up to 158.3 million more women and girls into poverty by 2050 (according to the UN).
For the latest from The Empress Book Club, a wonderful friend of ours interviewed Dr. Sharon Blackie when Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life was first released and reached out to share their chat:
Kimberly has been such a gift during past Empress collaborations and I’m so happy to share that we’ve finally got an Ask-a-Therapist session on the books with her on December 15th—touching on navigating midlife and being home (or alone) for holidays. Feel free to send me all of your questions for our sit-down.
Meanwhile, Book Group Questions!
Of the many complex characters and archetypes described in Hagitude – such as the Henwife, Medial Woman (Alchemist, Mystic, Witch), the Wise Woman, the Loathly Lady, the Old Woman who Weaves the World, the Fairy Godmother, the Trickster – which resonate with you most at the moment? Who would you most like to embody as you travel through elderhood?
If you have experienced perimenopause or menopause, did you experience strong emotions? For Sharon it was rage. Which emotions did you experience?
How do you feel about the changes in your body as you become older? How do you come to terms with this?
For my part, I’m definitely coming into my alchemical-witch era, but as I progress through elderhood, I think I might like to channel more of the wise, but batty Fairy Godmother. In peri/menopause—rage was my go-to emotion so I had cards made up…
Dempsey & Carroll are now, of course, official brand friends of The Empress. Ha!
Last question, feeling like my body and brain are decoupling is unnerving—so am going to have to step up the pilates, yoga, and Banagrams to fight the good fight.
But what about you? What springs to mind with these questions?
A Note from the Publisher
Deal Alert! Hagitude is FREE on Audible until 10/25!
RADICALLY REIMAGINE THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE
For any woman over fifty who has ever asked “What now? Who do I want to be?” comes a life-changing book showing how your next phase of life may be your most dynamic yet. As mythologist and psychologist Sharon Blackie describes it, midlife is the threshold to decades of opportunity and profound transformation, a time to learn, flourish, and claim the desires and identities that are often limited during earlier life stages. This is a time for gaining new perspectives, challenging and evolving belief systems, exploring callings, uncovering meaning, and ultimately finding healing for accumulated wounds.
Western folklore and mythology are rife with brilliantly creative, fulfilled, feisty, and furious role models for aging women, despite our culture’s focus on youthfulness. Blackie explores these archetypes in Hagitude, presenting them in a way sure to appeal to contemporary women. Drawing inspiration from these examples as well as modern mentors, you can reclaim midlife as a liberating, alchemical moment rich with possibility and your elder years as a path to feminine power.
Stay tuned for more commentary on Hagitude and don’t forget questions for midlife therapist Kimberly Wilson!
Yours in Grandeur & Deep Sh*t,
For more info on the Empress Book Club, its mission, and how it works, click here.
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Well thankfully you are all finally admiting to being peri or menopausal . My mother went through it in one afternoon and that is all she told me. I wrote a funny book on the subject and because my demographic gal pals were ashamed of talking about it and pretended they were through this life phase they pity bought it on Amazon (Gonepausel). Glad you are all just WAKING UP. Menopause never ends so get used to the dry skin, inner tube around your stomach, sandpaper sex and thinning hair on your head but the new hair on your chin. Have a designated tweezer when you can't see to get rid of those nasty little hairs as Rip Van Winkle is a bad look. KEEP WORKING, my preties and get a companion animal....it doesn't have to be the opposite sex!
Looking forward to adding this book to my reading list!