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?

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

Reframing "Stuck"

Reframing "stuck" or "uninspired" can be incredibly powerful when we think in terms of fallow periods followed by periods of emergence.

Creative ProcessJena SchwartzApril 27, 2019creative process, gestation, patience, inspiration, attentionComment

I Want to Live the Stories

I want to live the stories, not just remember them.

Real LifeJena SchwartzApril 21, 2019motherhood, Time, Memory, gratitude, storiesComment

Perimenopause and Passover: Letting Go of What's Extra

Isn't it funny how the thing we were so scared of can become our new normal, and then at some point, we will once again feel the winds changing and have to calmly reach for some kind of inner compass?

Real LifeJena SchwartzApril 18, 2019perimenopause, aging, depression, intuition, self-employment, self-care, marriage, dreams, trust, anxiety, PassoverComment

Duality, Neutrality, Strangers, and Notre Dame

The world is broken and the world is burning and the world is beautiful. Things are never simple, and yet there's a simplicity in claiming the complexity.

Sturm Und Drang: On Writing and the Myth of Suffering

If I can get quieter inside, I'm much more likely be able to listen for some useful questions or simply start writing.

What happens when we listen to our truth?

The slightest fissure -- a hairline fracture in a massive piece of rock -- that is the place in a piece of writing where the whole story might break wide open.

Loneliness and the Really Tiny Gang

We might still be alone in some ways, but alone is not the same as isolated. Alone is not the same as hiding. Alone is not the same as lonely.

Exploring the Word "Creativity"

Maybe this is why I've found creativity difficult to write about. It's everywhere. It's everything.

Creative ProcessJena SchwartzMarch 15, 2019creativity, creative process, real life, resilience, learning, perfectionismComment

A Love Note to Recovering Perfectionists

If I don't keep practicing letting this be enough, nothing will ever be enough.

Real LifeJena SchwartzMarch 10, 2019perfectionism, enough, presence, striving, practice, curiosity, self-loveComment

International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day, my friends. Keep being brave. Keep seeing your own beauty -- right there in the mirror.

Observations, CommunityJena SchwartzMarch 8, 2019International Women's Day, women, women's livesComment

11 things other than sitting down to write

9. Get drowsy and take a nap, since you didn't sleep well last night. This logic adds up.

"You Really Let Yourself Go"

“I’ve really let myself go,” your grandmother used to say. And something in you perks up. Something that says, ooooh that. Yes. Let’s do that. Let’s let ourselves go, go and go and go all the way far far from this land of keeping up and not once passing “go.”