Menopause

Menopause is read as the body's change at the "autumn" of life - a deeply emotional passage to be accepted rather than fought. It touches one's feelings about being still lovable and desirable, and above all still loved and desired; one takes stock, sometimes with regret at what was not done or fully lived, and may feel resigned to receiving less love, as if the body were quietening. The short explanation's tender uncertainty about one's desirability and worth at this turning sits here. Relief is described as accepting and welcoming the change, knowing one's lovability does not fade with it, and opening to a fuller, less driven kind of living.

(Note: menopause is a natural life stage, not an illness; this is an emotional, metaphysical reading of how it can be experienced.)

Example from the findings: menopause is read as accepting the body's autumn change amid fears about being still desired and loved.