Queen Anne's Lace

Real LifeJena SchwartzJuly 18, 2019choices, self-love, breathingComment

No Pressure

Genuine encouragement does not push or belittle or rush, it is like love. Patient, and kind.

Creative ProcessJena SchwartzJuly 18, 2019Comment

If I Had Three Wishes

The first came easily -- for Mani's health to be 100% restored. The others, though, I thought long and hard about as I drove south through farmland and evening light.

Real Life, Resistance, Jewish LifeJena SchwartzJuly 13, 2019slavery, suffering, resistance, Jewish, Jews, diaspora, exile, refugees, Three Wishes, lineage, ancestor, Holocaust, climate change, Immigration, Justice Comment

"Becoming"

What I can do is stay focused on the things that light me up, bring me joy in a deep sense, and make me feel most like myself rather than taking on more roles and tasks that I think I need in order to survive.

Real Life, Creative ProcessJena SchwartzJuly 1, 2019Becoming, Michelle Obama, Career, career counselor, Fear, Stress, Survival, Sacred work, Beverley BarnesComment

"Be Good to Yourself" :: Not Just Some Pithy Pablum

Hating on yourself is not cool. It doesn't exactly open the creative floodgates. And "being good to yourself" is neither as easy as it sounds or as shallow as it may seem. In fact, I'd argue that its depths are vast, and when you dive down, you'll find wreckage and treasure alike. And isn't that where the writing lives?

Creative Process, ObservationsJena SchwartzJune 28, 2019writing, self-love, perfectionism, practice, writing practice, coaching, lightworkers, habits, personal growth, creativity, accountability, privilege Comment

Notes After Surgery (Life Is Not a Given)

I stand on the shoulders of those who embodied this most; I can only hope my actions align with my innermost heart, the blood of my ancestors, those whose minds may have been filled with doubt but kept walking anyway, those whose names are found on the train manifests to Auschwitz, those who braided the bread and lit the candles and buried the dead and praised the living.

Real Life, ResistanceJena SchwartzJune 26, 2019Wayfair, immigration, melanoma, recovery, healing, politics, religion, islam, judaism, prayer, loss, ancestors, women's lives Comments

Double Helix, Clear Margins

A month or so ago, I scheduled an appointment with my primary care doc. I had two items to discuss with him.

Real LifeJena SchwartzJune 24, 2019cancer, skin cancer, melanoma, fear, uncertainty, friendship, time, women, women's bodies, health, women's health, God, healthcare, Mental Health, antidepressant, loveComment

Knowing Never Leaves

Being honest with ourselves means letting go of some things. Sometimes these are entire identities. Other times, they may be jobs or relationships, or beliefs or ways of relating.

Creative Process, Real LifeJena SchwartzJune 19, 2019Trust, Intuition, Business, Becoming, Coaching, Poetry, WritingComment

On Not Bypassing Anger

What I have experienced is that by giving myself space to FEEL anger, to truly just feel it, the pressure to "make it something" is lessened and I do, in turn, feel more able to take action.

ObservationsJena SchwartzJune 13, 2019Anger, Rage, Martyrdom, Marriage, Motherhood, Power, personal growth, Emma Lazarus, Liberation, Freedom, coaching Comments

In My Reality, I Make a Mess

Creative ProcessJena SchwartzJune 11, 2019writing, creativity, life, clarity, expectations, messy, learning, personal growth Comment

Breathe Easy

What do I want to feed my imagination? Now that feels like a question worth spending time with.

ObservationsJena SchwartzJune 9, 2019Time, Memory, Imagination, Healing, personal growth, coming out, Grief, Marriage, remarriage Comment

Israel: From Imagination to Reality

I listened to all of it, rapt, attentive, a sponge, ears open, heart open, receptive, learning, discerning, knowing that we would have a completely different experience with a different guide, a different perspective and history.

Jewish LifeJena SchwartzJune 6, 2019Israel, Travel, Travel Writing, Memoir, Belonging, Jewish, Jewish Mysticism, Middle East, Palestine, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Kotel, Western Wall, Tzfat, Negev, Holocaust, Memory, Home, Homecoming, Yehuda Mahane, Dead Sea, Mediterranean, Kibbutz, Zionism, Sabra Comment

When I Tell You It's Tomorrow {New Poem}

PoetryJena SchwartzJune 2, 2019Poetry, dive into poetry, Eden, Genesis, Creation, Grief, Freedom, poem, dreams, dream interpretationComment

Home Is a Big Word

The truth is somewhere else, as usual. And that somewhere else is not far away at all but rather right here. It is here in the tapping of keys, in the release of words.

Real Life, Creative ProcessJena SchwartzMay 31, 2019Writing, writing practice, Showing Up, Patience, Travel, Israel, Ramon Crater, NegevComment

A Mother's Day Poem

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

Sitting with Our "Stuff"

Then I stand in my driveway in the early morning, and the beauty of the flowering trees and bird songs makes me want to weep, for the gift of these and the stark, impossible disparities.

Observations, ResistanceJena SchwartzMay 9, 2019mass shootings, coping, trauma, self-careComment

Like the red maple leaves

Poetry, Creative ProcessJena SchwartzMay 6, 2019poetry, poem, poet, spring, myth, breathingComment

You Begin Again

You can't keep up.
You stop trying to keep up.
You decide it's worth waiting for.
You decide to screw waiting.

ObservationsJena SchwartzMay 6, 2019lists, writing practiceComment

Stress, Emergencies, and the Big Reset

When I feel stress today, I will pause and ask myself: Is it an emergency? I am making this more stressful and complicated than it really is? What is the next step?

Real Life, ObservationsJena SchwartzMay 2, 2019stress, emergency, Maslow's Hierarchy, Natalie Goldberg, Writing, Breathing, Trust, Veronica Walsh, CBT, Mental Health, personal growth, adrenaline, self-inquiry, writing practice Comments

Magnolia Blossoms and Rain

You can cover the past / but until you speak the truth / you will never heal

Real Life, PoetryJena SchwartzApril 27, 2019Healing, Codependence, Addiction, Struggle, Truth, Nature, personal growth, kindnessComment

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