Creative Expression Became My Perimenopause Healing

I was sitting in my art class painting and I was crying. Not sad crying. Relief crying. I was painting my perimenopause experience and it was finally coming out of my body in a way that words could not capture. I had tried therapy and that helped. I had tried exercise and that helped. But creative expression was healing something that nothing else touched. I was processing my emotions through color and form and movement. I was externalizing what was happening inside of me. I was creating something beautiful from my struggle. And it was transforming how I experienced my perimenopause.

How I got here

I had always been a creative person but I had stopped making time for creativity as an adult. I was too busy with work and family. I had no time for artistic pursuits. Then perimenopause hit and I was struggling so much. I was trying therapy and I was trying medication and I was trying everything. But I still felt like there was something that was not being processed. There was something trapped inside of me that could not come out through words or through talking. So I took an art class. I did not know how to paint. I did not think I was good at art. But I went anyway. And something shifted.

What I actually did

I painted. Once a week in my art class and also at home. I did not paint pretty things. I painted what I was feeling. I painted my hot flashes. I painted my anxiety. I painted my rage. I painted my fear. I painted my loss. I painted my strength. I painted all of the things that were happening inside of me. I did not try to make it look good. I just tried to get it out. And something about the process of creating was healing. It was externalizing what was happening inside. It was transforming my internal struggle into an external object that I could look at and process. I continued with the art class. I started painting at home too. I painted every week. Sometimes I painted every day. And the more I painted, the more I could feel myself processing my perimenopause experience.

What actually changed

My perimenopause symptoms did not go away but my ability to process them improved. Creative expression gave me a way to get my emotions out of my body and into the world. It gave me a way to communicate what was happening to me without needing words. It gave me a way to create something beautiful from my struggle. Art did not fix my perimenopause but it helped me move through it. And it helped me reconnect with a part of myself that I had lost when I became an adult.

What my routine looks like now

I paint regularly. Once a week in art class and also when I need to process emotions. When I am struggling with perimenopause symptoms, I paint. When I am angry or scared or overwhelmed, I paint. It is my way of externalizing what is happening inside of me. I track my emotional states using PeriPlan and when I notice I am struggling emotionally, I make sure to paint. The creative expression helps move the emotion through my body and out into the world.

If you are struggling with perimenopause, consider creative expression as part of your healing. It does not matter if you are good at art or music or writing. What matters is the process of creating. What matters is getting your emotions out of your body and into the world in whatever form feels right for you. Create something. You might be surprised by how healing it can be.