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hristiane Northrup says that with menopause comes a heightened sense of intuition that can last and grow throughout the rest of a woman’s life. I believe her. The evidence in my life proves it.

I’ve only just discovered the revised edition of her book, The Wisdom of Menopause. Whenever I read it, I feel as though I’m sitting down with a big sister who not only has all the information I need to make this transition as smoothly as possible but that she just loves telling me all about it. More than a book of how to survive menopause, sentences and paragraphs open up a world inside me I never knew existed. Reading this book, I’ve traveled secret pathways leading to hidden treasures that have given meaning to all kinds of relationships, episodes from my life, things I’ve regretted, things I should have celebrated at the time…it’s been fascinating.

One of the ways my intuition is opening for me at this time is through my night time dreaming. I’ve always dreamed in color but most of the dialogue in my dreams has never made sense. It’s been gobbledygook and I’ve depended on the feelings the dreams created to help me interpret the vivid images. Until recently I’d dreamt twice in story form – a dream with a beginning, middle, and end. Now I dream in story form quite frequently, people speak in coherent sentences in these dreams, and once I dreamt in black and white with everyone dressed like it was 1945!

And these days my night time dreams create feelings that run deeper and wider and give me even more to ponder upon awakening. It’s become a sweet and intimate game for my husband and I to play on our morning walks with Daisy when I share the dream I remember most from the night before and he interprets it. Between his psychology background, his own keen intuition, and being a spiritual teacher, I get a kick out of having my dreams interpreted by him.

Recently a dream that made an impression was both humorous and enlightening. In it Steve Carell and Tina Fey were married with children and were my neighbors. I needed to spend time with them for some reason. The reason didn’t matter. What was important about the dream was how meaningful it was to me that they opened their arms and their home to me. They were so welcoming and generous. And, of course, the humor that filled their home was an important part of their hospitable embrace.

Before the dream ended, I got caught up in a whirlwind of fear. Tina saw it and asked what was wrong. I said, “I’m afraid and I don’t know why.” She then explained that a friend of theirs was on his way over and he was someone who lived in fear and a sense of personal victimization all the time. She said, “You must be feeling his fear. You don’t have to hang out in that state if you don’t want to.” And I realized that neither she nor Steve were shrinking inside because a man inhabiting fear was about to visit. Then I woke up.

I struggle with fear a lot even though I’ve lived a very blessed life. Most things in life have gone my way and when they haven’t, when I’ve been chased and attacked by the slings and arrows of life, I’ve been able to depend on inner reserves, family, friends, and professionals to see me through. Nevertheless, the state the country’s in, the devastation so many have suffered in the last decade, the lack of hope for a better tomorrow for so many, and the seemingly endless reminders from the news media that my age group has become irrelevant in the job market, leaves me fearful for all of us.

The message I keep receiving loud and clear from religious, spiritual, and philosophical thinkers and authors; from friends who are spiritual teachers; and from my own dreams and intuition is that hanging out in a state of fear or dread, worry or fretting, isn’t helpful. In fact, it contributes in harmful ways to the over all well being of my immediate world – and, perhaps, to the whole of the planet as well. The message I keep receiving is that embracing life in all its goodness and mystery, living in the present moment with gratitude, and planning for the future with the realistic understanding that nothing is guaranteed; these things contribute to life.

And what a kick when that message is delivered with fun and humor by a pair of comedians who are geniuses in their craft! Intuition and the soul speaking can be entertaining, that’s for sure. With Christiane Northrup’s suggestion that one’s intuition, if embraced, only gets better with age; this is something to look forward to in menopause and beyond.