The future is cyclical.

Peace of the Whole is about working with the rhythms of the menstrual cycle and what it means to be in a cyclical body.

Cyclical bodies are ones that are constantly shifting, periodically bleeding, and have the potential for gestating new creations of all kinds. I have one of those sorts of bodies (with a uterus, ovaries, etc.) and these essays are written from my personal experience as a woman trying to live with her cycle rather than fighting against it. I explore these topics through science, fertility awareness, menstruality, our relationship with the natural world, and more. Here, we talk about the things your mother, grandmother, and/or the culture at large probably told you not to talk about.

These essays are meant to be a respite. Make a cup of your favorite comforting beverage, find a good spot to sit and join me here. I want this space to be a little refuge from the hustle and bustle of social media culture, where much of the content about fertility, menstruation and cycles is far too watered down for my taste. My essays will generally take about ten to fifteen minutes to read and will be published roughly weekly.

I’m glad you’re here.

Why subscribe to Peace of the Whole

Subscribing means you get full access to all the essays and they show up in your inbox. It also means you support the writer behind the work.

The writer:

Ema Hegberg is a person who is learning to be at home in her body and the cycles that guide us. She is an aspiring Mainer. Her path so far as been winding and she’s learning to be at peace with that. She has a degree in anthropology and has worked in diverse settings: small farms, cafes, libraries, a flower shop, a family home, as well as running her own botanical dye business. Writing has always been her constant. She used to think she wanted to write novels; now she just wants to write things that connect people to theirs bodies and each other. She is self taught in the symptothermal method of FAM and has completed Clara Bailey’s six week course, Moon School. Ema is a committed tea drinker (loose leaf all the way) and prefers pen and paper to keyboards. After nearly a decade of chronic illness, she started to truly heal at the age of twenty-eight and she’s very grateful to be here now. She lives with her husband and two kittens on unceded traditional homelands of the Susquehannock/Conestoga.

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