The Secret Superpower of My Menstrual Cycle 🤫
How I become an all-knowing goddess for 3 or 4 days every month ✨ 👀
Warning: This piece discusses my menstrual cycle in depth. If that doesn’t interest you, please do something else with your time. I won’t be offended. Thanks!
“Man is an intelligence, not served by, but in servitude to his organs.” — Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.
Dear Wonderful Readers,
I am not a scientific expert when it comes to a complex topic like the menstrual cycle. But as a writer who is curious about the world, since I got my first period 19 years ago, I’ve gathered a lot of data on one menstrual cycle in particular: my own. Today, I’m going to share with you one aspect of my menstrual cycle that I hope you will find reassuring, cool, and downright witchy. It gives me the kind of all-knowing power that I definitely would have been burned at the stake for 400 years ago.
The Phenomena of Phenomenal Thinking
Every month, after I finish my period, I get a few days of incredible clarity on basically every aspect of my life. I also feel incredibly energized. I’m currently in that phase. Just yesterday, I found myself biking extra fast on my way to my co-working space and improvising on the piano like an absolute boss.
I first noticed this experience a couple of years ago. I’ve since started tracking it in my period-tracking app, Clue, which is an awesome company that I also happen to work for (I don’t make money from telling you this because Clue doesn’t have an affiliate program). In Clue, I’ve made a special tag for this experience. I call it my “Post-Period Strategic Clarity.”
How does my “Post-Period Strategy Clarity” manifest in my life? Well, this week, I pitched five new clients before midday on Wednesday. I’d also been feeling a bit lost in my career, but when I went to a concert on Tuesday, I could picture my future self, sitting on that same stage, selling out an audience of 3,500 people as I talked about my writing tools and techniques and sharing them with the world. In the last couple of days, as I go to bed, I find myself reaching for a piece of paper and a pen to jot down strings of incredible ideas on who I should be reaching out to, how I should be asking for help, and where I should be focusing my energy because I know where I’m going. It’s like unrolling a blueprint created by my brain and knowing all my next moves. I even redownloaded Hinge and started messaging people.
There’s evidence that I’m not making this up. Here’s what hormonal health expert Alissa Vetti says about the menstrual cycle and the follicular phase:
“So first, you have the follicular phase. Fascinating phase. And neuro-chemically these hormonal ratios change your brain chemistry. So, you are a different person week-over-week within a month…In that follicular phase where the eggs are coming up to maturity, one is going to make it to the fallopian tube, very exciting time. Neuro-chemically speaking, you have the most access to creative energy than that you will have the entire month. Effortlessly. This is a perfect time to begin new projects: mastermind plan, dream big, all of that.”
My next question is: why does my body do this? Well, here is my totally non-scientific answer. I’m 30 years old, and these days I’m feeling super intense baby fever and what can only be described as extreme horniness every time I ovulate, which occurs in the days right after the follicular phase. So, right after my period ends, once my body has rid itself of the last cycle, it’s gearing up again for ovulation. And so, I get a surge of energy. And this energy makes sense because, for survival, it would probably be a good idea for me to gather a lot of resources (i.e., pitch a shit ton of clients to make sure I have plenty of enough income) and find a mate (i.e., download a dating app and start going out and flirting with whoever is hanging around). Maybe I need to nest a bit (i.e., decide which relationships and things in my house are working for me and discard some that aren’t). So, yes, I’m living my modern life equivalent. But from a biological perspective, I can see how this corresponds to what’s going on in my cycle. My brain might be speaking in emails, client pitches, and party invitations. But my body is making sure that I create the most awesome, successful, and habitable environment for myself, attract a great mate, and get some optimal offspring going. Pretty cool! And yes, I literally am ready to run a half-marathon this weekend before a party with some of the coolest musicians and hot, bright young things in Mexico City.
Before you start rolling your eyes and thinking, “Well, isn’t this girl’s life just pretty and perfect!” let me remind you what happened just before my Post-Period Strategy Clarity: I had my period. All the greatness that follows my period during this phase happens despite my recent mood swings, extreme irritability, propensity to cry for no reason, and depression during my PMS for at least another week before. Plus, the depressing point is that this clarity doesn’t last forever. As I’ve written about before, after a couple of days, I know all the insanity of ovulation will start happening again, and I’ll be back to not having a clue what I am doing with my life. See how Mother Nature’s a bitch? And how what goes up must come down?
Three years ago, I was on this same cycle, just as I will be until I hit menopause, I expect. In May 2022, I wrote,
“Right before I get my period or even the first or second day, I feel incredibly alone, timid, and shy. I feel self-conscious and hyper-acutely aware of all my mistakes in conversations. But the strangest thing happens at the end of my period, like now. I feel incredibly energized, and my thoughts become completely clear. It usually comes to me like a flash of inspiration on one night of the month. I can see crystal clear who I am trying to become, what I need to do to push myself that month, what I’m truly feeling about things, and what needs to change. I can see that now.”
For those of you who want the extra details, you should know that this all happens despite the fact that I’ve had a Hormonal IUD for the last 8 years. I recently got mine replaced after it expired because my periods have been historically insanely painful, and I don’t plan on having a period again if I can avoid it. These 8 years, I haven’t had cramping and bleeding on my period, but I still get those mood swings! So, I still get my Post-Period Strategic Clarity. At least in my experience with Hormonal IUDs, everybody wins.
In summary, if you have a menstrual cycle and you’re not currently using an app to track any of your symptoms, maybe try it out for a while and see if you find it helpful. There are plenty of apps on the market besides Clue. Obviously, I’m not a pacha mama earthy spiritual lady telling you to live off the grid and never put another medication in your body ever again. But looking at the science, it makes sense to try to master matching our lives with the energetic flow of our menstrual cycles, especially when it serves us as baddies living our best lives. Alissa Vetti called this “[leveraging] your body as a power tool.” And that’s what I plan to continue to do.
Here’s to harnessing the cyclical nature of being a female for my own benefit! Moahaha! 😈
Love,
Tash
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Super interesting and I’m not even interested in menstrual cycles