Work in Progress (Ooh La La)

Your life is unfolding even when you can't quite see how.

ObservationsJena SchwartzNovember 7, 2022parenting, mothers and daughters, aging, growing upComment

Honey from a Spoon {You Are Always Whole}

Real Life, PoetryJena SchwartzDecember 1, 2021real life, depression, parenting, transparency Comments

Day 172: Tending & Taking Care

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

"You Really Look Like You Know What You're Doing"

What if playing with balance was the very thing that made me good at this thing?

Boundaries, Conflict, Forgiveness — Oh My!

You are not required to learn form these experiences, but your world will be richer and your relationships stronger if you do. And there is no avoiding them, lest we live in a fragile, entitled state of needing everything to go our way.

Observations, Real LifeJena SchwartzDecember 9, 2018no, boundaires, communication, love, relationships, anger, writing, mother, parenting, conflict, mistakesComment

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

Creativity is Messy: Questions to Explore When You’re Being Harsh with Yourself

Binary thinking doesn’t serve us. In this (or any) context, an all or nothing, either/or approach is not useful. As humans, we’re inevitably going to bring many thoughts and feelings to any table. The question, I suppose, is in how we can regard these — especially when there is inner turmoil or conflict — with some gentleness.

Creative ProcessJena SchwartzNovember 13, 2018rain, coffee, english bulldog, editing, screenwriting, coaching clients, writing, stories, author, activism, parentingComment

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.

Writers, Authors, and People Who Write

Something begins to shift the moment we loosen the reigns and declare, “I am a person who writes. I am a writer.” And this is the crux of the matter: A writer is a person who writes, and not all writers must be authors.

Real LifeJena SchwartzDecember 4, 2017fathers, daughters, family, poetry, Sinead Morrissey, writer, writing, parenting, author, committment, writing practice, communication, permissionComment

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.

Poetry, Politics, and Privilege

I am a bundle of fear and rage and love and confusion. I went for a run this morning, and I looked at each person’s face I passed by. A delivery guy. An older gentleman walking his dog. A woman with a briefcase waiting for the light. A man smoking a cigarette on a bench. A child watching in awe as the firetruck backed out of the station, holding his grandfather’s hand. I ached.

Ten Minutes Instead of Three Hours

I had that itch earlier to write. For hours and hours. To figure out where I’ve been and pull all the different colored ribbons together in a big bright bow. Alas. That is not this. This is more like lurching towards the writing, like driving a stick-shift when you’ve only ever driven an automatic.

ObservationsJena SchwartzJuly 19, 2017write, writing, motherhood, parenting, the office, summer, coffee, doctors, healthcare, insuranceComment

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

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