“”

Women's Health, Your Way

March 03, 2026

Ask & Search With Clara

Welcome to a new standard for women’s health answers.

GIRLHOOD / Blame It on the Full Moon

Blame It on the Full Moon

Blame It on the Full Moon

Apparently last week was a full moon, and suddenly everything makes sense. My ADHD was already running wild (see: previous entry), my period arrived out of nowhere, my mother-in-law had surgery, the kids were still adjusting to their new school, and we had to pack up our family of five to visit relatives a few states away. It was… a lot.

It’s funny how we can be completely unraveling one minute and then our period starts, and we’re like, oh, okay. Suddenly all the chaos has an explanation. Except this time, it was that moment multiplied by a thousand. The full moon energy made everything feel louder, heavier, more emotional. (Costar was not kidding when it warned me my lunar phase would be intense.)

As a Pisces, I feel everything a little too deeply on a normal day, but last week it felt like the moon had me on a string. My moods, my energy, and my sleep were all over the place. It was like the universe had turned the volume up on everything, and I was stuck listening.

I’m still not fully recovered, honestly. But I’m trying to give myself grace — to remember that sometimes everything just collides at once, and all we can do is the best we can with what we’ve got. It’s messy, unhinged, exhausting, and yet somehow… still manageable with the right amount of humor and patience.

Here’s to softer weeks ahead. And a little wisdom from the late Diane Keaton to carry with me: "Choosing the freedom to be uninteresting never quite worked for me."

Ask Clara: How can I manage hormonal mood swings (without losing my mind)?

More from GIRLHOOD

I finished Half His Age in two nights — the kind where you look up, it’s past midnight, and you’re already tired for tomorrow. If you read I’m Glad My... Read more
There’s a very specific flavor of disappointment that can sneak into birthdays in your 30s. Not because anything goes wrong, exactly, but because the day rarely lives up to the... Read more

ADHD and the Six-Digit Code

Today is my 37th birthday, and if I could have one gift — no wrapping required — it would be a small reprieve from two-factor authentication. I know. Cybersecurity. Identity... Read more
Somewhere between the protein obsession and the cold plunge discourse, sleep quietly became the coolest thing you can do for your health. And honestly? It's about time. Bustle recently ran a... Read more
They say death comes in threes, but lately it feels less like superstition and more like a pattern I can’t unsee. And the cause, in so many of these losses,... Read more
They say some people eat to live, while others live to eat. As a second-generation Italian-American girl from Queens, I have always, proudly, lived to eat. Food is how we... Read more
I did not have “Bridgerton teaches us about the pleasure gap” on my 2026 bingo card, and yet… here we are. Just when we’d all quietly filed Francesca away as... Read more

Are We Done… or Just Tired?

People don’t talk enough about how hard it is to know you’re “done” having kids after years of infertility. Mostly because “done” implies a level of certainty that infertility never... Read more

Is Fiber the New Protein?

If 2025 was peak protein, I was fully on board. I tracked it, prioritized it, and mentally calculated grams while ordering lunch. For a while, it felt empowering, like we... Read more
I am not, and never have been, a haircare girly. I didn’t grow up knowing the difference between a mask and a conditioner. I’ve never instinctively understood which shampoo was... Read more