(Q) is for Quicken
the a-z of tending
A couple of years ago, I read Valarie Kaur’s book See No Stranger. It was a powerful book, and I was spellbound by it. One particular image that stuck with me and blends beautifully with everything from social justice to walking the wise woman road is the idea of ‘breathe and push’.
“Loving ourselves is a feminist intervention: it is choosing to care for our own bodies and our lives as a priority. In all of our various labors— making a life, raising a family, or building a movement—we can care for ourselves by remembering the wisdom of the midwife: breathe and push. We breathe to draw energy and power into our bodies and let joy in. We push through fear and pain to become our best selves. And in the most convulsive moments of our lives, we can summon our deepest wisdom and find the bravery to transition from one reality to another. Laboring in love is how we birth the world to come.”
The process of tending to ourselves, our families, our hearth and home, is first felt as a quickening. A little flutter of wonder for what we can build and nourish. As we move through the phases of life, our experiences and resulting resiliency place us on the wise woman road. It is a new beginning of sorts, transforming us into who we will become. “The woman who is willing to make that change must become pregnant with herself, at last. She must bear her third self, her old age.”1 Now, I’m not saying that midlife is synonymous with old age, but a new quickening for our third phase.
As we first sense this quickening of our third phase (perimenopause/menopause), we find ourselves awakening. We may start to turn away from the high-stress path that had us jumping through societal hoops with career and child rearing in favor of more intentional tending to ourselves. As we start reducing the external noise, we may begin to gain clarity and hear that lovely inner voice of our intuition. Where does this wise woman’s road lead to? It leads to the birth of a new understanding of our role in the world around us. How exciting is that?
As Valarie said, we must breathe, and push.
To read through my A-Z so far:
D is for Daily Ritual (4/4/26)
I is for Intention, J is for Joy (4/10 &11/26)
K is for Kitchen (4/13/26)
M is for Maintenance (4/15/26)
O is for Outreaching (4/17/26)
Part of the Blogging A-Z 2026 Challenge
Until next time,
Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by 🍃 If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I am learning to walk the wise woman road by returning to my true self through seasonal living, reflective writing, nourishing food, intuition, and resilience. Rooted in the rhythms of the earth and my lived experience, these writings are an invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember what nourishes us. If this resonates with you, I invite you to subscribe and walk the seasons alongside me.
I love this idea of “becoming pregnant with yourself.” What an amazing way to think of peri/menopause