Woman Don't Have Mid-Life Crises - or Do They?
Twenty years of working as a management consultant in business has taught me how to hide my emotions, disguise my womanliness and act as much like a man as I can. I wear a suit, speak in a straightforward manner, sit with my legs crossed and look people in the eye in a way that excludes any hint of demureness or coyness. I prefer working with men. They are rational, logical, pragmatic - and when they're not, I can help them to be so.
Not to say I haven't been interested in things feminine: coaching, personal development, self awareness, psychotherapy, facilitation...but I have always been good at encouraging others to take this stuff on and less brilliant and doing it all myself.
I have never been interested in womens' groups or feminism, never really been able to see the "glass ceiling" or experienced descrmination or harrassment. Perhaps I haven't been that sympathetic to the recipients of this treatment.
And then it came. Like a heavy, dark grey, highly charged cloud. My spine shivers as I mention it. Depression started to tap me on the shoulder as I entered my 40s. It waited for me in the car, visited me late at night, hung around at Christmas... sometimes it overwhelmed me and I would cry and cry and cry.
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