Welcome To Flora & Fauna: What No One Told Us About Our Bodies
Do you remember back in the sixth grade—that quarter of the year when gym class disappeared and was replaced by the most dreaded course imaginable at the most embarrassing possible moment of your prepubescent life?
Ah yes…
HEALTH CLASS.
The class where boys learned about boners and wet dreams, while we girls sat ilently reliving our budding boobies, prayed they’d hurry the fuck up so we could stop stuffing our K-Mart special training bras.
The class where the fluorescent lights felt louder than necessary and your body suddenly became a public topic of discussion.
The class where your vaguely intimidating gym/health teacher would call you out in front of everyone:
“Come up to the projector, Miss Jimenez, and please tell the class where the labia majora is.
How about you just shoot me in the face instead??
When I think back to the most gut-wrenching stories of my life—breakups, heartbreak, survial—this doesn’t even crack the top ten. But it was my first real introduction to something I’d spend the rest of my life negotiating with:
My Body.
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I vividly remember sitting in science class one afternoon, feeling something warm, unfamiliar. I asked to go to the bathroom, confused but hopeful.
And there she was.
Aunt Flo.
I was thrilled. Elated, actually.
I was one of the last girls in my little group—seven of us—to get my period. Once my best friend got hers, I checked daily, peering between my legs like it was a crystal ball, waiting for my moment.
I wanted it so badly. I was jealous of their complaints: the cramps, the back pain, the Midol and Pamprin tucked discreetly into the front pocket of their Jansport backpacks.
Mine was teal with a brown suede bottom. Still the best one.
I wanted what they had because my mom told me that once I got my period, I’d become a young lady.
She made it sound enchanting.
Sacred.
Like a blessing only women received.
Like a calling.
Your body blooms.
It tells you it’s ready—ready for life, for possibility, for becoming.
Month after month, year after year, only pausing briefly for pregnancy, when you remember exactly why not bleeding for nine months felt like winning the lottery.
And then Flo comes back post-baby and you’re reminded—oh right—this is why pregnancy was such a fucking gift.
As young girls, we’re prepped for womanhood with half-truths and nervous laughter.
We’re told our bodies will change fast (but never fast enough). That hair will grow everywhere, wildly, unless we tame it.
That waxing is self-care.
That tampons at twelve are a rite of passage —they’re not.
That overnight pads will be enough—they won’t.
We are never warned that when your uterus sheds, it also decides your colon should join the party.
But, what no one really explains is this:
A woman’s body is never static.
Week to week, we cycle through entirely different versions of ourselves—ravaging, tender, exhausted, powerful, feral, weepy, unstoppable.
Some weeks we could run a triathlon. Others we’re crying under weighted blankets watching garbage reality TV, eating snacks like it’s our full-time job.
And then.
It starts.
All over again.
FOUNDATIONAL SUPPORT FOR REAL LIFE
Flora & Fauna exists because no one prepared us for this chapter.
For perimenopause. For hormonal shifts.
For fatigue that isn’t laziness. For skin that needs different care. For cycles that change, moods that deepen, and bodies that demand respect instead of punishment.
This space is about honoring the wild intelligence of the female body—from the first bleed to the last—and learning how to support it instead of fighting it.
Not with shame.
Not with silence.
Not with bullshit.
But with knowledge, softness, science, ritual, and choice.
Welcome to Flora & Fauna.
Where we stop apologizing for our bodies—and start tending to them.
Until next time…
Erica “E. Lynn” Jimenez is the founder of The Hollow Quill, a lifestyle platform for midlife women navigating health, beauty, home, and self-focus with honesty and intention. Her work centers on women’s wellness without shame, soft living without guilt, and choosing yourself without apology.
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Hormones don’t stop mattering in midlife.
Winona offers science-backed, doctor-guided care for women navigating perimenopause and beyond—on your terms.
| 15oz | |
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| Height, in | 4.84 |
| Width with Handle, in | 4.92 |
| Diameter, in | 3.43 |
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Care instructions: Hand wash only
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