The Gifts Of Growing Older - Dec 14

What new gifts are emerging for you as you grow older? In today’s 5 Minutes in Nature, Liz reflects on the transitions and shifts she’s experienced as a post-menopausal woman. She speaks of feeling a deepened connection with nature, a blossoming of creative expression, and a welcome release from worrying about others’ opinions. These changes feel rich, nourishing, and full of possibility.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott and you can probably gather i'm not outside at the moment i'm inside it's another wild windy wet day and i'm in my office i'm about to go out for a walk i'm just looking out for all my rain jackets and my wellington boots and my leggings and it's just too windy and wet to record outside so i thought i would share with you inside i'm in my office looking out my window i've got a bird feeder there's a little shrub outside the window and there's a bird feeder in it and at the moment there's a robin bobbing along on the branch uh trying to maybe get up a nerve to land on the bird feeder he's certainly looking at it and i also saw a fleeting little blue tits in amongst the leaves of this bush it's it's an evergreen bush so i can't quite see clearly but there is i think a little blue tit in there as well and you know i guess today is really a reflection on being an older woman and some of the changes i've noticed and one of them is this is here i am fascinated at looking out on the birds i love watching the birds now if you'd said to me 20 years ago you're going to get a bird feeder put it outside your office window and you're going to really enjoy watching the birds i would have kind of thought nah you know it's very nice and everything but that's just not for me and yet i find a fascination with nature with wildlife with the birds in a way that i've never done before and that's certainly come as i've become an older woman i think older women as they move beyond 55 seem to experience something different certainly that's been my experience anyway and one of these things i'm experiencing is a deep connection with nature a fascination with nature a sense of watching nature and feeling a sense of joy and gratitude and connection these birds are symbolic of that i feel totally in tune with them and so today is all about if you are an older woman it's noticing your the changes you're seeing in yourself i'm going to tell you about some of the changes i've noticed not saying that you will have experienced the same thing i would love you to share what you've noticed in yourself but for me this is something that i find fascinating because it feels as though there has been a transition and shift one of these areas as i've just said is my sense of connection with nature connection with nature in a way that i've never felt so deeply before i've always enjoyed walking i've always enjoyed being outside but now there's a richness it feels as though nature is trying to communicate with me the land the animals are trying to express themselves to me so for me this connection with nature is so important i've also noticed a real sense of moving out of the shadows there is a temptation for me to step into the shadows but i feel as though there's something within me that wants to be expressed it feels as though there is a creative energy that is coming through me and wants expression in the world and for me i am stepping into this so authenticity expression trying to connect sharing what i feel is important to share this has come with being an older woman and alongside that is less of a feeling of caring about what people think and i have to give that context because when people do make nasty comments about maybe what i say or what i'm doing it can still feel quite hurtful and stop me in my tracks and yet i find that i am less bothered about trying to find the right language trying to say things in a way that isn't going to offend people or upset people i feel much more tuned into being respectful still but finding a voice for what i want to say so that's really really important for me as well at this stage of life so there's just a few things and i'm curious if any of these resonate with you so this sense of connecting with nature this sense of finding authentic expression feeling this sense of something that wants to be expressed through you and my pieces here on insight timer are a way that i do that and something else which i've noticed is not being so bothered about what other people think and i'm kind of couching that a little bit because i think this is something that is emerging in as i find my voice and i want to express myself i realize and i feel compelled to say what needs to be said and it feels really important that i give expression to this intuitive energy so those are the three things that really land for me nature expression and not caring so much about what others think let me know what being an older woman looks like for you

Reviews

As we grow older I definitely think we grow into ourselves. If we've not previously had a "purpose" in life, that need becomes greater and with it the desire to be more true to ourselves and not be concerned what others think. Our true nature becomes more apparent and perhaps if we've had a life where we haven't been able or have chosen not to put ourselves first, it's a time when we feel the need to change that.