by Judith Stafford | Feb 15, 2022 | Becoming a Wise Woman
It is time to embrace the Wise Woman. Looking around, I see many of my contemporaries, women over 50, eagerly reclaiming their power. Older women are refusing to fade into the background. Instead, we are using our experience and wisdom to create a better life for everyone. When I was younger, I didn’t notice how older women were treated. My mother and her friends didn’t appear oppressed; they just got on with their lives. She and a friend travelled around the world in their 60s, so I didn’t see getting older as a handicap. But as I got older myself, I noticed the misogyny, prejudice and negative stereotypes experienced by women as they aged. This really annoyed me. Getting older doesn’t seem to hold men back. They are still respected and considered sexy, even with grey hair and a paunch! The same cannot be said for women. Things are slowly changing. If you look around, you will see many more women over 50 in positions of power and influence. We are also more visible in the media, but there is still a long way to go. In response to this and my journey into middle age, I created the Ancient Wisdom of Women. As a woman in midlife, I am no longer prepared to fade into the background as I get older. I am determined that older women should take our rightful place in society as wise elders. What is a wise woman? The Wise Woman archetype can be found throughout many cultures and religions. She is often seen as a powerful, wise figure who can help and guide...
by Judith Stafford | Jan 12, 2021 | Becoming a Wise Woman
How do you feel about your age? Happy, Unhappy, Ambivalent? You are not alone if you don’t feel happy about getting older. For many women, the years between 40 and 60 (or even 70 nowadays) are a time of change, physical, emotional, and spiritual, and that change is rarely welcomed. And no wonder! Look at the words used to describe older women. Old bag Hag Cougar Crone Mutton Menopausal It is hard to find any positive words to describe us – cougar is the best we can hope for! When I am talking about myself, I tend to use the words, mid-life and second half of life to describe this period in our lives, but the word I have embraced for myself, and I would like you to as well, is ‘wise woman’. I think this is a good word to describe us as we get older. Wisdom is something that comes with age – hopefully! Therefore, it is a wonderfully positive way to portray us as we age - growing in power rather than losing it. Our identity and who we are isn’t necessarily something we think much about when we get past our teens – when we are obsessed with it! We are usually too busy being mothers, having jobs and building a life. But as we get older, children grow up and leave home, jobs become may be less exciting and we become perimenopausal and then experience menopause, how we feel about our lives can change. Menopause marks the end of our fertility. It is a definite marker in our lives that men do not have....
by Judith Stafford | May 15, 2020 | Becoming a Wise Woman, Featured
What is a Wise Woman and why you should want to be one. When I started writing about being in my 50s, I couldn’t find a word that I liked to describe my age. The ones I did find were not very inspiring: Middle-aged (often used as an insult for being dull and boring) Mid-life (associated with ‘crisis’) Mature (what, like a cheddar?) Menopausal or even worse Post-Menopausal (yuk, far too clinical) Crone (too old and warty) Which is when I decided on ‘wise woman’. I don’t really want to be any of the above; I quite like being a wise woman. Then as I started to look at what a wise woman was, I found that several images came to mind. A healer or midwife A shaman or medicine woman A Fairy Godmother An elder stateswoman or leader A witch or crone They all represent an older woman with a certain amount of skill and power, so I knew I was onto a winning name. So now, I want to reclaim the title Wise Woman for all women at or past menopause. Have you taken the Quiz yet? If you are curious to find your Wise Woman Archetype, take my fun quiz and find out here. Take the Quiz How you can become a wise woman If you look up the word wisdom, it means ‘someone who has the experience, knowledge and good judgement.’ But I would also include the following as traits of the wise: Being authentic and trusting your intuition Learning from your mistakes Being independent and resourceful Open to learning new things Is non-judgemental...
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