#98 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Meran

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Meran, what age she would like to go back to and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

 

10 Facts About Meran

(at the time of the project)

1. 60 years old.
2. Meran was born and grew up in Sydney Australia. She lived in Sydney most of her life apart from having spent about 10 years up on the Sunshine Coast near Noosa.
3. Meran has done some work in publishing and in television. And somehow, even though she had no training for it, she was working in graphic design at her last job.
4. Meran also studied anthropology, which she absolutely loves.
5. Meran has one son who's now 33 years old.
6. Meran had a leg lengthening surgery at the age of 10. Then after that, they discovered that their original diagnosis was completely wrong. Now Meran’s feet are three sizes different, which is very expensive because she has to buy two pairs of shoes.
7. Meran except life challenges and believes that it is a great way to keep yourself feeling alive and growing.
8. When her son was small, she decided to go and get her motorbike licence
9. For her 50^th birthday Meran got her first tattoo
10. Meran also did a parachute jump. It was a terrifying and wonderful experience at the same time.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

(auto-generated)

 

Hi, you're listening to the My Body, My Story podcast.

 

I feel like it's actually broken down a big blockage. Because I actually feel like now I could might be able to enjoy taking pictures of myself.

 

This is the 45 over 45 chapter where we celebrate Rule Breakers and role models, the women who inspire us to live life our way and to show their sensuality beauty, soul, and true essence. Here we talk about what it's like to be 45 Plus, adjusting to the changes that come with time, and we listened to the stories about participants. If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com

 

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the My Body My Story project and today with us Meran and I'll be asking her a few questions and let's start. Hi, Meran and welcome to the studio. Welcome to the project and tell us 10 five facts about yourself.

 

Okay, well, I'm 60 years old. I grew up in Australia. I was born in Sydney. And I've lived in Sydney most of my life apart from having spending about 10 years up on the Sunshine Coast near Noosa.

 

We're do you like better, which place do like more Sydney or

 

possibly Sydney Sunshine Coast got a bit. The problem was I was in a relationship that wasn't very good. So that makes a place any place emotional…. But in the past, I've done quite a lot of different things. Most of them were somewhat media related. I've done some work in publishing and in television. And somehow, even though I had no training for it, I wound up working in graphic design in my last job.

 

That's interesting.

 

I sort of went from publishing, working on a small magazine where I did a bit of everything. And I've sort of had training in editorial work, but then I worked in a children's book publishing company. And somehow, I was meant to be a production assistant. But I wound up doing all this graphic stuff where I was designing. They did a lot of licenced products, like things for the ABC, the wiggles and play school. And they did all sorts. They used to sell their stuff through the post office actually. And so they had not just books, but they had things like activity books and little children's recipe books, stamp sets. So I ended up having to designing all these random things like designing boxes of dinosaur stickers and stuff to prepare the layout and do all the box design everything which none of which I had any training for.

 

But probably you have a talent for that.. creative talent

 

It is probably not my best talent. But that was what I was doing. And then I have then I wound up working on local magazine where I did a lot of everything, but it was mostly graphic design, too. And then I went back to university for a while and studied anthropology, which I absolutely love.

 

Anthropology. Interesting.

 

Yes, yes. I actually think wish I'd discovered it much earlier in my life. But then unfortunately, somehow I ended up moving up to Queensland with my now ex husband. And I intended to go back and finish up some of these studies. But everything just got too complicated. And I didn't

 

sometimes men can be on our way of developing ourselves.

 

It was not I don't think it was a relationship that we had did a lot for my life in many ways. took more than it gave. Anyhow, so I Being back in Sydney after living up the Sunshine Coast for oh, I also along the way I had. I've got one son who's now 33 years old.

 

On the way.

 

Yeah, from a short first marriage. He's really lovely. And so yeah, so I've been married twice. The second marriage was much longer than the first one, but wasn't much better. It was worse probably, anyhow. And along the way, what else along the way? One thing that's domination. My, in some ways been a big issue in my life is that when I was a child, it was discovered that one of my legs was shorter than the other. And back then, the doctor thought that I'd had polio and one leg didn't grow enough. And I ended up having leg lengthening surgery at the age of 10, which was pretty major. So that sort of overshadowed a lot of my teenage years, because I spent a lot of time in plaster, and then I had to wear a leg brace today. And then then after that, they discovered that the original programme, their original diagnosis was completely wrong. And I had a completely different condition, which caused one leg to grow too much corn. That's also meant that I've actually got an ongoing vascular condition in the leg that's bigger. Which also means that my feet are completely different sizes, which is very expensive, because I have to buy two pairs of shoes.

 

Oh, really.

 

One, well, one legs much, actually, one legs much. They're pretty much the same length, but my knees are in different places, and one leg is much wider than the other. And my feet are about three sizes different than a little bit. Yeah,

 

I haven't noticed, I have well,

 

that's up I've, I've learned to dress in such a way that people tend not to notice. But it's actually something I've always been very self conscious ofand but because of the circulation problems, which are an ongoing thing and never going to get better. That means that these days, I have to have sclerotherapy, treatments and other treatments on my veins every three or four years in one leg to keep it functioning reasonably well. So it's a bit like maintenance. Anyhow. So really, one of the biggest things when I look back in my life is I've had to face a lot of different challenges, there was the physical challenge of my leg problems going through the surgery when I was young and then once I sort of had recovered from that, then they read diagnosed and I had to wear a circulation stocking and so sort of felt like that's part of my life. That's never been okay. And possibly, as a result of all of that, I don't know, I have had struggles over the years, with mental health somewhat with quite a bit of depression. And, but I have learnt that one of the things that I've found is that so I guess I've had challenges, those literal challenges that I've had to overcome. But I've also found that sometimes it's a good way to just to challenge yourself in things that you do and often, often doing the things that give you the greatest that you're most fearful of. Yeah. If you do challenge yourself on those ones, it's often like it benefits you the most. It's a great thing to do. And I think it's a great way to keep yourself sort of feeling alive and growing. And learning. Yeah. So that's an example of a couple of things like that, that I've done over the years is one stage when my son was small, I decided to go and get my motorbike licence. Sort of wedge pensee riding mode, but it was exceptionally difficult for me because I never learned to ride a bicycle when I was young. So Initially, I had no concept of staying upright on two wheels, which made it really really hard and took me an awful long time to get the licence. Because it was difficult for me, but I was pleased when I got it. And even though I don't have a motorbike anymore, I still have my licence because I'm happy. I'm gonna let it go when I work that hard for it.

 

And maybe one day you will need it again.

 

Well, I always used to have a fantasy actually of maybe being a sort of wild bike riding granny.

 

Do you have grandchildren?

 

No, I'm sure. At least I've got the option of being a mad old lady riding a motorbike. Yeah, needs to be. Yeah, and another one for my 50th birthday. Longer way to getting the tattoo, but another of my greatest fears has always been height, so I'm not good with heights. Anyhow, so for some reason. Some of my friends contributed to a suppressant. But they sort of knew something I'd be thinking about doing, I did attend and parachute jump. Which was just terrifying. But it was wonderful once they pulled the cord and you stop pre fully fracturing yourself back down to the ground, it was like so, but also, that was one of the reasons I decided to do this session is because it's also something out of my comfort zone. And I've never been very comfortable with posing, I have a real mental blockage with even taking selfies of myself.

 

We're just recording this interview after the photo shoot already.

 

And I feel like it's actually broken down a big blockage. Because I actually feel like now I could might be able to enjoy taking pictures of myself because

 

you're really well with the posing, and I really enjoy it and it's very fashioning, you know, stylish posing as well. So I don't know, it's I think it's it just in this example that how we can have this blockage in our brain while we yet we're very good with something and we just tell ourselves that we're not.

 

Yes. But so. So like I said with other things, challenges I've set for myself, this was another one of the reasons I decided to do it.

 

So if we move to the ageing subject, and so you said, you said you did things for your 50th birthday. What about your 60th birthday? What do you do for yourself?

 

I'm actually my 60th birthday is was pretty much non birthday. Okay. My thing to remember? No, because some was about three or four years ago that I separated from my ex husband. And sort of getting through all of that and selling our property up and up on the Sunshine Coast and moving back to Sydney and finding a place for myself and sort of having to start my life completely over again, has been very challenging. And hang out. What was the question? I forgot.

 

So what did you do? What special did you do for yourself?

 

So, no, I haven't Oh, no, I lie. I lie. I forgot. I went to Bali, which was somewhere I had never had a particular urge to go, but I needed to go somewhere restorative, and I found this wonderful place called Escape haven in Bali, which is a sort of luxury women's retreat. So it's like a small, small boutique II kind of resort he plays but so new women and not too many, so it's sort of like a small group and you will have nice rooms and they feed you lovely food. It's not. It's healthy, but it's not like a health resort, yet plentiful food. They don't sell alcohol, but if anybody wants to bring along a bottle of wine or a drink, that's not a problem either. And they have all sorts of wonderful activities, and oh, actually, I did do some few. I forgot about this completely funny. I managed while I was there, I managed to go snorkelling with manta rays, which was very exciting. Wow, that was amazing. I jumped out of the boat. We were When I remember jumping out into the ocean, I set my head and water in as a manta ray, like a massive one, like, about 10 feet below me, I was nearly on top it gave me a bit of a start. And I climbed up Mount Petula volcano, which was fairly long hole.

 

Wow. So through you were what you called hiking as well.

 

Yes. Which reassured me that my knee, which is a little bit dodgy, one of my knees is still functioning well enough if it got me up that.

 

Wow, that sounds good. So what does ageing means to you?

 

I think there's this certain sense of relief in being past some of the past some of the worst challenges in some ways things are still while I still have challenges in my life, the sort of some of the, just the real, getting so most emotionally stressed. And there's more stuff that I've been able to let go. Which I've really appreciated. And now that I've been in my new place for a while, and on my own, I actually quite, quite enjoying it don't even feel as lonely as I did when I first moved in. Oh, that's the thing I forgot to mention. I've got two little dogs.

 

What's the breed

 

that miniature Schnoodles? No, that must be might be part of the point of the reason. So don't feel so lonely. Yeah. I just started with one. And then I got another exciting five months old. So she's a bit of a challenge at the moment. But they're lots of fun. They're very sweet.

 

So but if you could go back in any age, what it would be? And why, and what advice would you give yourself at this age?

 

Okay. When I thought about that one, I thought to myself, I don't really think there is any age that I would want to go back to. I really don't. I've met a lot of people who say they had wonderful time at school and wish they could go back to this or that. But I don't think there's ever been much I've wished I could go back to you enjoying your age.

 

The one while I do have one, one little memory of when I was young waking up one morning and just feeling this pure joy of being alive. And I was so excited because the sun was shining. And I rushed to the back door. And I could see that two drops on the grass. And, and it was just this feeling of just really simple joy in the aliveness of everything. That's the only moment that I could remember, I would ever want to go back to but it's sort of like a feeling I've always I've been trying to recapture it and slowly feel like I'm getting back towards recapturing some of that. It's sort of a bit like going full circle and re finding or re establishing the sort of playfulness and that you have of a child, which it's not so heavy and weighted with all the stuff of life, then you can more easily be a part of life and enjoy things. And I think that's something that does change for a lot of people with age.

 

Yeah, I think so

 

you see people, you know, fall pit, I believe in an over 55 complex when they have their Christmas party, I don't go to a lot of things, but they have a Christmas party each year with a live band. And that's always lots of fun, because all these old people from you know, 55 up to quite elderly, some of them are in their 90s Get up and dance. And even if they're a bit creaky and they're all just to have dancing, because they're fun of it. And it's so different when you're younger, and you're out somewhere and people are dancing, but they're all sort of It's a performance, they're looking at each other, they're at meet people, things like that. Yeah. Just good. I appreciate that. That when people are that bit older, that they are more able to sometimes to be in the moment and to be a bit more honest, I think. Yeah,

 

I agree. Yeah. Like you think why worry about past? It's already gone. And why worry about future? It's not there yet. So just enjoy the moment here and now.

 

Yes.

 

So if we move to body image questions, and I know that it's you can relate to that subject and you said already your story about but what do you think? Okay, I'll ask the question first, if your body could talk, what do you think it would ask you to tell you?

 

When I thought about that word last night, I thought I'd wreck my body and turn around and say, Why did you? Why was it so hard on me your lease? Yes. Yeah. Can't you just be a little nicer, just to be a little gentler on me? And maybe a bit more consistent?

 

To your body wanted more acceptance?

 

For certain more acceptance and more love?

 

Yes, yeah. But what do you think the main causes of body image issues that people have? Well, apart from Objective things, yeah, like, like something is not working in your body. But still, like you said, you always felt comfortable, why people would react differently on you, or you think it was just inside

 

For me, it came from a lot of different things. And obviously, these days, people talk a lot more about the influence of things like social media, which has a lot of impact. But But back when I was growing up, I think there was a I did I, my parents, I did get a lot of sort of senses from my family. Little little comments that would be critical here and there, which were very damaging to me. My father in particular. He's, I think he thought he was being kind. But because he was very aware of the problems I'd had with my legs. He actually took me inside when I was about, I don't know, 14, sometime in my teens. Right. Right, when you're at that most least confident. And he took me aside and he said to me, I hope you've realised that men will find your legs unattractive. Why did he do? And I've, I always wondered, my mother has said to me, since that he was protecting me. He was being thought he was protecting me, somehow, but it was very hurtful. And it's been, I've been through, done a lot of therapy. It's still one phrase, except one phrase. And that always still rings there. And I mean, he must have had some bit of an obsession on some level, I think, because he, he also he used to tell his story about how when he first met my mother, or one of his early dates, he made sure to take her swimming so that he could check out her body and make sure everything was nicely symmetrical.

 

Gosh,that was so…

 

So that sort of left me with a feeling for many, many years, that that just this idea that that somehow there was something wrong with me, and it would, would scar me, particularly when it came to the opposite sex. So that's been so often there are things like that within families, or that's the weight. I wasn't really overweight for many years, but particularly my team's probably as a result of spending all the time in traction and hospitals and not being able to do any exercise. And, and my father also used to criticise me for that he wants. They used to offer me money if I could lose weight, nor certain amounts of weight. And so it was always there were always conditions. The body had a lot of conditions. And

 

so you think that you're in your particular case, it's it was to do with the family?

 

In my case, there was lot to do with the family and yeah, as well as our physical school. School I will I can say, apparently, I was a very, very highly sensitive child. So I was He's, but I sort of remember being teased early on when I first discovered the difference between my legs because for a while I had to wear a shoe with a raise on it once you had raised on it, and I remember being teased that and then afterwards, I remember when I first went to high school, and change to a new school, and I was on crutches and all the girls thought it was very exciting. Everybody thought that was great. And so the first day, they wanted to come up and use my crutches and then once they had to go and my crutches, because I couldn't play games with them and everything they didn't want anything to do with me. So I became one of those kids that sits in a corner of playground and just reads a book.

 

which is useful

 

It is useful, it's very useful. I've extremely well read scripts.

 

So there was family? There were other social things, little comments, like, again, at school, there was one stage where I was wearing a circulation stocking and a teacher came up behind me and said, Oh, what's that on your leg?

 

So it seems like in your story, kids were more kind than adults?

 

Somewhat. But yeah, there was. But definitely there was big family. Yeah, family thing that went on. And I think often, often, it's a combination of things within families and schooling, all the people you surrounded with when you growing up that start those things. Yeah. And, and then often, especially in teenagehood, as well, often if you're not quite built, like the other girls, or whatever, and you see all of them wearing certain kinds of things. But you can't quite wear the same things that just yeah, just people like to it's that sort of age where people always want to look and feel this.

 

How do you believe that negative body image can affect a relationship? You touch on that a bit? Like do you think it's, it's caused problems in your relationship?

 

 

It definitely affected my real relationship. However, I think it was more the effect that it had on me, which created a real load of negative self worth, that it was that sort of sense of self worth that had more of an impact on the relationship. But interestingly, in my ex husband, we were married for 20 years. And I didn't find out until after we had split up how insecure he had been about his body. I had absolutely no idea to what extent and I thought, it's amazing that you can be with somebody for so long. And people just hide these things way because they are sort of scarring. And people as often. They're the things that people feel uncomfortable to admit to. And it does cause them to withdraw in relationships because they can't be fully open and honest. And I think both of us had a lot of that where we really weren't quite fully present to didn't discuss that it wasn't kind of common thing to discuss, the sort of did but sometimes in relationships, you think you're talking about things, but there's levels and levels, and often people still keep certain stuff deeper down. And until they feel like it doesn't really matter anymore. There's certain things they can be unwilling to admit.

 

When do you think it's the time usually when they think it doesn't matter with age?

 

I think it certainly with age makes a big difference. But also, for instance, with my ex husband certain things he wouldn't have ever told me unless the relationship was completely over and done with and he thought we'd both moved on. So only then could he say admit to certain things.

 

After your relationship finish,

 

yeah. But if they put in any hope of anything he probably never would have so so toes, you know. So body image is just so tied in with the sense of security. And it's very hard to have a full, really secure relationship if people can't at least even if they've got insecurities about their body to be able to. It's about being baring yourself, but Metaphorically speaking, yeah, as well as literally,

 

I agree with you. That's an interesting thought. So how did you overcome this insecurities when they come up when you were younger? And how do you do it? Now? What's the difference?

 

Well, when I was younger, often I just used to withdraw from things I wouldn't take part in certain sports or activities, because I felt that I couldn't. I wasn't able to, to move in the way the other girls moved or certain things as a result, my surgery broke

 

during the photo shoot, you moved really well.

 

Well, the bizarre thing was I was always hyper flexible. Sometimes I've wondered if the doctor put one of my legs back the wrong way because it was extra extra flexible. But also, also, I did did find after, during my teens, when I was, I was the doctors were insisting I wore this horrible circulation compression stocking that used to that was ugly as some very uncomfortable, I ended up reaching a point and I took up swimming and I used to go swimming every day started off. Not although it's a decent swimmer, when I started, I used to find it in an effort to swim five laps of an Olympic swimming pool. But past a certain point, I just got into a routine I pretty much used to go every day for many, many, many, many years. Largely because I felt that it would help my circulation. So that's an I guess over the years, I've learned a lot about health, Diet, Fitness, all sorts of things, anything that can help improve things rather than worse. And so I've tried to implement those things. And even though now I still have compression, or compression stockings, I I tend to only wear it when I really feel like I have to a nice helps to do it with other things. I'll make sure when I can I keep my legs elevated, because otherwise it tends to swell. But also but it sort of when I was younger, every time I meet somebody, I'd always that'd be the first thing I'd talk about. As if I had to make excuses for myself because I assumed that that it would be something about my body that was gonna be a problem. And these days, I think much less about it. I yeah, I just don't think too much about it. But also over the years I've I've gotten used to different certain ways of dressing little tricks and things that I use, which help to just divert attention, I guess. And focus on the bit of features of my body. Now because I've got really long legs, I ended up turned out I ended up with a bone essential so so I've got extra long legs so so that I can highlight that by wearing leggings. Yeah, it could have been a model. So things I've found. I've found some time since summer. Even if you particularly if my legs getting a bit swollen or it's not looking so good, or I have to wear my stocking often. It'd be a really good luck. I can wear a really cool summer dress with a say a pair of cowboy boots which hides the stalking if I'm wearing it or if my ankles getting puffy at least it's not so much on show. Yeah.

 

So you have tricks.

 

I have lots of little tricks. I've built up a big repertoire of tricks over the years yeah,

 

it just that's why you're so creative.

 

So yeah, you have to be creative with problem solving, but at work, of course, what I've learned over the years is by and large, people don't notice. People don't tip people don't walk up to you and look for hone in on a certain feature. Oh, my God, look at those legs, one legs thicker than the other. I mean, they might have I walked around with a miniskirt. And I didn't know that was putting everything on show. But we're or if I did what I used to do, which was tell everybody, but if you're just by and large, people just don't notice half the things that I think that's the thing that happens with ageing to start realising that. Hell a lot of the stuff you focus on, you're looking in the mirror and you see, oh, oh, no, there's a blackhead there, oh, there's this, there's that or I'm looking a bit bloated to death. Most of this stuff people don't notice.

 

I think people are worried about themselves and not how somebody else looks and they may not even, you know, notice the obvious things.

 

Because then as people get older, you realise that that fort is beautiful and attractive in people of whatever sex is usual, has a lot more to do with what's inside. Yes, I have an aunt who recently died. And I visited her a couple of weeks before, before she just before her death. And she had been ill for some time. And she was she was still being cared for at home by her daughter and granddaughter. And she was bed bound. And she sort of kept dozing off and things. But she was lucky that she hadn't had any dementia, even though she's been quite ill. But there was something about her and I went in, and she just looked at me and smiled. And I thought she looks more beautiful now than she ever has it despite the fact that she was all and those changes because it was the person that she was she was a really lovely person who just loved people, yeah, cared for people and she was joy send a very positive person. And it was like, it was genuinely like, the beauty of her soul was becoming stronger. As her body became weaker. Yeah. And I've only seen that on occasions. But when you do really see it, it's, it's so striking. And I sort of think on the whole, as we become older that you start recognising, or being a little more attuned to those sorts of things and looking for those qualities in other people rather than and appreciating them far more than anything to do with literal body image or, yeah,

 

I think so. Or the close people. Like your son, or your parents, they don't care how you look. They just want you to be next to them. Just to give you love and to receive love. And I think it's nothing to do with the body image as well. And with age, what I understand that we really should care about our family, and they care about us more than anybody else. So why would you worry what others think about you?

 

Yes

 

What is your way to bring yourself back to shape? Like if we feel low, or you feel like here and there a couple of kilos or you know, in the event, but whatever, whatever

 

I will tell you, I used to worry about those things a lot more in the past than I did now. Yeah. And in fact, over the years, I pretty much discovered that, that for instance, the more I tried, tried to lose weight in the past, the harder it became and generally when I've lost weight and being a good weight is when I stopped paying any attention to anything and I'm happy and saying which You know, I do like to eat relatively healthy food and I know what good meals constitute in. So I have had times where I've realised that I needed to focus on eating better and things like that. Found again, as I've become older, it's become more like I need to focus on the quality of my meals for nutritional purposes rather than anything to do with body image. Yeah. Because I've kept pixel up more difference. And I've also over the years I have, I have done a lot of different types of exercise to help myself I did find that over the years although I swam for many years that didn't seem to, I enjoyed it, but didn't seem to do a lot as far as toning the body or anything. I did find Pilates terribly effective when I did Pilates for many, many years, but not the sort of fitness Pilates that they have. Now I used to do it at a clinical Pilates sort of physiotherapist place with the reformer in a trapeze table and things are very popular. And after I did that for probably, least 10 years or something a long time and, and I wasn't paying much attention in particular to what I was eating back then. But obviously, my body shape changed so much. And I didn't even notice it was so gradual. Because I remember one day going somewhere and a friend said, Okay, your arms that's so toned. And I've got this amazing shape. I like oh, okay, no, no, just unfortunately, that's one of the things I have noticed in recent years, though, is that, especially between about for me, say the last couple of years, just getting towards 6050 probably been in the last two years that I've noticed that a lot of my skin, especially on my body, especially with like upper arms and things like that seems to have gone a bit slow, all of a sudden. And there's only so much you can do for that exercise. Which is a bit sad. But I still try and I still try and do. And I've changed the sort of exercises I'm doing at the moment I'm doing bone dense especial bone density weight training programme, twice a week, which is meant to be very effective. Because I my bone density is bit borderline. And so that's good. And I'm also going to be restarting some swimming shortly because I recently signed up for can to a charity that raises money for cancer, but they have different. They have all these training programmes that you can join. And the quality of the training is amazing. And apparently it's really good way to meet people and make friends as well as getting fit you. And part of doing it is you need to raise money for cancer as well. Yeah. Anyhow, so I've signed up for one of these, which is going to be a totally new experience for me. So a programme begins very shortly. early November, which means so have training every once a week in swimming pool and once a week in the ocean because it's training for a one kilometre ocean swim.

 

Wow. So that will be exciting.

 

I have done some ocean swimming. But I after living in Queensland, I've got to put in a bit wimpy about getting into the cold water. So I figured I'd need to restart in summer. And then maybe I can keep going. But oh, you can use Claremore? Well, yes, that's another good option. I find these days to now I've needed to just slightly change the sort of exercise I'm doing as well. So diet, some of which is do you get do get little, I have little things like I've got a bit of osteo arthritis in my knee, which is supposed to need knee replacement at some point, but it's keeping on going. And I also have caught it detach bicep tendon in my right arm, which only happened a year or so ago, which is a bit unfortunate because once it detaches, there's nothing you can do and it falls down in your arm and you get a lump.

 

Oh, gosh. So you're like deteriorating?

 

That was a bit discouraging, but that seems to be doing okay, because I left off doing some of the things I liked for some time when it was really bad, but one of which was kayaking. But when I was in Bali, I went kayaking and team to be fun. So I just like walking up the mountain. So I concluded that I better just get back to exercise and I'll just pretend everything's fine until it's not. Yeah,

 

So okay, so my last question, and what is your favourite quote, or maybe saying about being a woman?

 

Well, I, I am particularly fond of this particular one by Maya Angelou which says, it speaks to me because I've always enjoyed reinventing myself in life every time. You know, you're going through phases, and there's always challenges and you learn. She says, Each of us has that, right, that possibility to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. I thought that was really important. So to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise. Excellent. And I think that really speaks to women because that's pretty common thing that women are more likely to be invented, not shaped by things around them. Then men on the whole, so I think that's really, really important one and that's probably the biggest thing I've been doing in the last couple of years to after so many years, marriage is just reinventing myself and rediscovering myself.

 

Excellent. Thank you, Meran. And thank you very much for such a great conversation and sharing your story. And I hope it will inspire someone. So if it as they say, if you could do it, anyone can do it. Exactly.

 

Yes. That Well, thank you very much, Alexandra. It's been fabulous day. Thank you.

 

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