I’m still alive. Barely. It was touch and go there for a while, but I made it through. Hormones have got to be in the top ten contributors for premature death among women. I wonder if there have been studies linking hormone imbalances to certain cancers, heart attacks, or even car accidents. The statistics would probably be close to twenty percent, in my estimation, of these occurrences correlating to the cycles of female menstruation. Maybe more. Speaking for myself, I have severe panic attacks, compounded stress, and exaggerated mental illness symptoms such as over-reactivity, slower reaction times, and difficulty concentrating. I’m much less likely to be pro-active with my health and self-care when I’m bloated, cramping, and generally cursing life. It’s an honor to have the privilege of bringing new life into the world through the womb of our bodies; and yet, it’s a horror show of an existence to endure as well. Not for everyone. Some women don’t have such extreme difficulties. As with everything else, there is a continuum, a pain scale, a variability of personal experience. Human subjectivity is why we’re not to judge others based on our own perspective. Instead, we offer mercy and grace and understanding, even when we don’t really understand, because we all stand under the same sky, and the law of reciprocity ensures that we are all in need of grace and mercy throughout our difficult lives.