Circuitry {a poem}

The arsenal of poems about mothers doesn't need another mother poem

PoetryJena SchwartzMay 8, 2022Mother's Day, Motherhood, motherhood, mothering, mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, guilt, Jewish, ance, intergComment

All the Tools

It looks like love in real time, always unfolding and becoming and transforming and evolving.

Real LifeJena SchwartzMay 9, 2021Motherhood, Mother's Day, mother's day, motheringComment

Day 195: "The Truth Cannot Be Borrowed"

ObservationsJena SchwartzOctober 5, 2020parentin, Coparenting, Covid-19, Time, loss, love, Motherhood, motheringComment

Day 172: Tending & Taking Care

Real Life, Jewish LifeJena SchwartzSeptember 12, 2020Concussion, parenting, High Holidays, rosh hashanah, Yom Kippur, Motherhood, motheringComment

A Mother's Day Poem

PoetryJena SchwartzMay 12, 2019motherhood, mothering, mother's day, holidays, poetry Comment

Let Go a Little (Then a Lot, Then All the Way)

I bet she’d be intrigued, excited, relieved, and a good deal terrified, knowing some big shit awaited her but also that somehow she’d get through it intact.

ObservationsJena SchwartzNovember 30, 2018future self, midlife, parenting, mothering, life, love, marriage, relationships, coffee, self employed, entrepreneur, letting goComment

We Need to Take Care of Our Endings

They’d likely not vacation together again, for more reasons than the woman would get into now. Needless to say, a day was just right. They stopped for ice cream before returning home, letting the summer day run long. She remembered how she used to have such a hard time saying goodbye, letting go. She still did.

Shabbat in 11 Parts

A deep breath. The light changing so subtly and gradually, it’s almost impossible to discern. But soon enough, it will be dark outside. We’ll sleep once more, than start all over again.

When Denial Is No Longer an Option

In the end, it’s a quality of being honest that is liberating. For so long, I wasn’t fully honest. I lied outright about some things, like smoking, and in a more subconscious way about deeper things, things that I didn’t have names for, things that were so big I was afraid to expose them.

Real LifeJena SchwartzMay 6, 2018marriage, divorce, coming out, LGBTQ, homecoming, mothering, parenting, sexuality, fear, birth, mary oliver, I'm gayComment

“Supposed to” Is the Death Knell of Creative Ease

I got up out of bed. I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and peed and brushed my teeth and had coffee. I prepared French toast for Pearl with a birthday candle in each piece — much easier to blow out than 12 + 1 for good luck! I navigated some choppy mothering waters and even got us safely to shore (aka school) through some mild rapids.

Real LifeJena SchwartzApril 9, 2018real life, mothering, parenting, self employment, divorce, marriage, love, relationshipsComment

Outgrowing My Fear of Anger

Take some time soon to write about anger. Set a timer for 10 minutes and make a fast and furious list (see what I did there?) of associations you have with anger. You could simply start with “anger = …” and go from there, returning to this equation if you get stuck.

On Boundaries, Shabbat, and Not Neglecting the Soul

That’s exactly it. Taking these 24 or so hours “off” is really a chance to get quiet, to go inward, to look in the mirror, to turn away from the output and towards what is closest. The circles of what’s sacred to me are all beautiful, and when I disregard my soul in the busy mix and the caring for and focusing on others, something gets lost.

Fifteen Minutes

This morning in the car, we were talking about her resemblance to me. I told her all those years of sun and smoking didn’t do me any favors in terms of my skin and aging, but didn’t suggest I’d have changed a thing, either. How could I?

Real LifeJena SchwartzJune 19, 2017parenting, mothering, writing, ice cream, facebook, entrepreneur, blog, bloggingComment

Heart Wide Open Hurts

Apparently, I wasn’t done crying yet, as her question triggered another round of heaving sobs. Flooded by how much I love my kids, more than perhaps they will ever know, and feeling in my bones that this is how much my mother loves me. The immensity of love felt almost like too much to bear. Because it is also pain, and it is also loss. There is no picking and choosing here.

Real LifeJena SchwartzOctober 25, 2016meditation, mothering, parenting, marriage, love, relationships, hanuman, hindu godComment

Bigger, Better, Different

So I wrote and kept writing. I worked and loved and read books to myself and read books to my kids. I wrote about them, I wrote about showing up. I wrote about depression and the layers and the falling apart.

Blog