Happy Spring! I love cat drawings. March is both the best and the worst — but I am with you, that extra bit of sunlight is such a joy. As a person who is also carving my own path, professionally and financially, I think this quote is so important:
"Remain open, remain flexible, but have clear boundaries so that you don’t slip back into that danger zone of not being the master of your own time—or worse, risk burnout all over again."
Like, this is it. it's the whole deal — your time is your own, and the second we forget that, everything else goes up in smoke.
Hi Melissa! Yes, we are in control. We are in control! I'm going to tattoo that on my arm 😂 because all of it can be a slippery slope if we're not mindful. And I did read your essay awhile back! But I'm off to read it again!. Thanks for reminding me.
Yes, more of this! I love your cat drawings and your reflections on bits of life. And the reminder to take time to travel and see other places. Thanks, Jenna 🌸
Thanks Jenna - appreciate the moral support. We’re on spring break for my high schooler right now and a few months ago I asked him what he wanted to do for spring break and he like me couldn’t come to a decision or it didn’t seem important at the time and so we never planned anything. I can tell he’s disappointed now that he’s facing the reality of sitting at home with nothing to do. We signed him up for some cooking classes this week and are trying to teach him to drive but I can see that my son has a hard time envisioning other places to visit because he doesn’t have a frame of reference. Will keep working on this. If you have summer travel ideas for a 15 year old boy please enlighten me 🙏
I don't feel like I can make any recommendations without knowing your teen or your family, but I would encourage you to travel somewhere because the years after that will be taken up with college tours during school breaks. You can incorporate a vacation around a college tour, but it's really not the same!
That’s a fair point. I feel like our family would enjoy the same travel destinations and activities that your family does - we’ve never been to the Pacific NW but it is on my bucket list. My fifteen year old has grown up in the city his whole life so he is pretty open to new experiences. He went on a school trip last year to Paris with his French class and they partnered with the drama team and also went to London and saw a lot of plays. He enjoyed London and Paris a lot. Any sort of outdoor activity he enjoys and he loves national parks (he’s been to Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon bc my mom lives in Vegas). We live in Chicago so he loves sailing (camp) or paddle boarding or any water activity on Lake Michigan in the summer. Thinking about college for him freaks me out. He is talented at violin and viola so I have a feeling he may want to go into a music program somewhere but we’ll see. My favorite place in the world is Northern Spain but I’m the only one in family that speaks Spanish (husband, daughter and son all studied French). My husband studied painting and print making in grad school so he loves visiting art museums wherever we go. You are probably like what am I supposed to do with all this info. 😂 And I don’t expect you to do anything with it but wanted to share so you know more about me and my family since I love hearing about yours.
I feel like we're on slightly opposite tracks! I had a winter/spring (is it too business-y to call it a Q1?) that was filled with activity and certainty -- fixed places wherein I committed myself to being, with no time to wonder too much about why I'm doing any of it or what it all means. I said to myself, "I'll process all of this when I have a chance to sit still." Your comment about committing yourself and making decisions specifically to stave off uncertainty resonated hard, hah.
Now April has dawned and I'm expressly not going anywhere or doing anything big for the next 2.5 months, and right on schedule, the thoughts have all flooded in and I'm recognizing that I'm embarking on a season of having to sit with discomfort and lack of control again. The thing that keeps peeking up for me is that while I enjoy many professional ventures, none of them bring me the consistent, unquestionable fulfillment that my personal life does. I'm lucky that it's not a one-or-the-other choice in life, but it's funny to look back on my now year-and-a-half of exploring different things I may want to do for work and realize that the thing that I want to do the most is just hang out with my family. Which brings up all sorts of feminist feelings about work and self-worth. Guess there's no more putting off dealing with all of that in the months to come!
Thank you for always for so generously opening up a dialogue about these issues, Jenna. It's very appreciated.
Yeah, it seemed like you were traveling a lot and entertaining new opportunities since I saw you are in NY. But relatively speaking, 2.5 months isn't that much downtime! You know the end of the school year is full of end of year events, summer planning, and emotional upheavals about the kids ending another grade too. I would just sit tight and enjoy that time with your family and not have any guilt about it. It is never a waste of your life to spend time with your kids.
I love DC in the spring. I used to go there a lot when I was going to college in Virginia. I was imagining myself living there after graduation, like many of my peers do, but I ended up on the other side of the coast! Well, such is life! Thanks for sharing your trip there with your family :)
I love how life takes us places we don't expect. I have to remind myself and my kids that when we have so many questions about our futures. It's the very embodiment of feeling unstuck!
More cat pics, please! A lovely drawing. We had to let our gorgeous cat go at the end of last year 😞 so I will take all I can get right now!
Oh I'm sorry, Kate. That is such a loss. They are such important members of our families.
💕 🐈⬛
Happy Spring! I love cat drawings. March is both the best and the worst — but I am with you, that extra bit of sunlight is such a joy. As a person who is also carving my own path, professionally and financially, I think this quote is so important:
"Remain open, remain flexible, but have clear boundaries so that you don’t slip back into that danger zone of not being the master of your own time—or worse, risk burnout all over again."
Like, this is it. it's the whole deal — your time is your own, and the second we forget that, everything else goes up in smoke.
I wrote this a few weeks back about my own inability to deal with uncertainty, I thought you might enjoy it! https://open.substack.com/pub/onpurposeproject/p/cultivating-patience-to-be-present?r=f96pn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Hi Melissa! Yes, we are in control. We are in control! I'm going to tattoo that on my arm 😂 because all of it can be a slippery slope if we're not mindful. And I did read your essay awhile back! But I'm off to read it again!. Thanks for reminding me.
here for all of this 🙌
Thank you, Emily!
i echo more cat drawings and loved the way you meandered through this post. best of luck to your family!
Happy Spring Julia, thank you! 🌸
Happy Spring, Jenna! Let's hope this cold weather is behind us. Maybe 😅 And thanks so much for the mention. I'm so glad my essay resonated with you. 💚
Fingers crossed for some warmer weather! 🌸❤️
Yes, more of this! I love your cat drawings and your reflections on bits of life. And the reminder to take time to travel and see other places. Thanks, Jenna 🌸
I remember our conversations about travel, Juliet. I hope you have some breaks and upcoming travel plans with your family this year.
Thanks Jenna - appreciate the moral support. We’re on spring break for my high schooler right now and a few months ago I asked him what he wanted to do for spring break and he like me couldn’t come to a decision or it didn’t seem important at the time and so we never planned anything. I can tell he’s disappointed now that he’s facing the reality of sitting at home with nothing to do. We signed him up for some cooking classes this week and are trying to teach him to drive but I can see that my son has a hard time envisioning other places to visit because he doesn’t have a frame of reference. Will keep working on this. If you have summer travel ideas for a 15 year old boy please enlighten me 🙏
I don't feel like I can make any recommendations without knowing your teen or your family, but I would encourage you to travel somewhere because the years after that will be taken up with college tours during school breaks. You can incorporate a vacation around a college tour, but it's really not the same!
That’s a fair point. I feel like our family would enjoy the same travel destinations and activities that your family does - we’ve never been to the Pacific NW but it is on my bucket list. My fifteen year old has grown up in the city his whole life so he is pretty open to new experiences. He went on a school trip last year to Paris with his French class and they partnered with the drama team and also went to London and saw a lot of plays. He enjoyed London and Paris a lot. Any sort of outdoor activity he enjoys and he loves national parks (he’s been to Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon bc my mom lives in Vegas). We live in Chicago so he loves sailing (camp) or paddle boarding or any water activity on Lake Michigan in the summer. Thinking about college for him freaks me out. He is talented at violin and viola so I have a feeling he may want to go into a music program somewhere but we’ll see. My favorite place in the world is Northern Spain but I’m the only one in family that speaks Spanish (husband, daughter and son all studied French). My husband studied painting and print making in grad school so he loves visiting art museums wherever we go. You are probably like what am I supposed to do with all this info. 😂 And I don’t expect you to do anything with it but wanted to share so you know more about me and my family since I love hearing about yours.
I feel like we're on slightly opposite tracks! I had a winter/spring (is it too business-y to call it a Q1?) that was filled with activity and certainty -- fixed places wherein I committed myself to being, with no time to wonder too much about why I'm doing any of it or what it all means. I said to myself, "I'll process all of this when I have a chance to sit still." Your comment about committing yourself and making decisions specifically to stave off uncertainty resonated hard, hah.
Now April has dawned and I'm expressly not going anywhere or doing anything big for the next 2.5 months, and right on schedule, the thoughts have all flooded in and I'm recognizing that I'm embarking on a season of having to sit with discomfort and lack of control again. The thing that keeps peeking up for me is that while I enjoy many professional ventures, none of them bring me the consistent, unquestionable fulfillment that my personal life does. I'm lucky that it's not a one-or-the-other choice in life, but it's funny to look back on my now year-and-a-half of exploring different things I may want to do for work and realize that the thing that I want to do the most is just hang out with my family. Which brings up all sorts of feminist feelings about work and self-worth. Guess there's no more putting off dealing with all of that in the months to come!
Thank you for always for so generously opening up a dialogue about these issues, Jenna. It's very appreciated.
Yeah, it seemed like you were traveling a lot and entertaining new opportunities since I saw you are in NY. But relatively speaking, 2.5 months isn't that much downtime! You know the end of the school year is full of end of year events, summer planning, and emotional upheavals about the kids ending another grade too. I would just sit tight and enjoy that time with your family and not have any guilt about it. It is never a waste of your life to spend time with your kids.
I love DC in the spring. I used to go there a lot when I was going to college in Virginia. I was imagining myself living there after graduation, like many of my peers do, but I ended up on the other side of the coast! Well, such is life! Thanks for sharing your trip there with your family :)
I love how life takes us places we don't expect. I have to remind myself and my kids that when we have so many questions about our futures. It's the very embodiment of feeling unstuck!