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Jenna’s Writing
During our last house cleaning surge I found a cardboard box with “Jenna writing” scribbled on the outside. I couldn’t open it; felt like Pandora’s box of tears and rage. They say nothing bad happens to a writer….maybe that’s true on paper. I don’t think grief is an unusual place for creativity to ignite, though I do think it’s complicated.Whether…
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Scattered
I think I have written and shared “this” poem about six different ways. Do we ever stop looking for ourselves? Anytime I write about my “parts” I get a flashback to Ashlee Simpson’s song “Pieces of Me” and it makes me want to never share any of it. Thanks for reading anyways! I see clothes mistakenly strewn along the freeway,a…
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The Third Bird
If you are ever wondering how to slow down in life, simply go on a walk with a toddler. Today, I let Mara lead. Rather than my usual, “come on, let’s go, time to roll”…. I followed her home from dropping her big sisters off at school. And seven minutes slowly became thirty. Her inherent curiosity in every nuance was…
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Taking the Long Way
Our road trip from California to Minnesota on the fringe of winter kneaded me like dough into an expanded version of myself. Travel has a way with transformation. California has always been the promised land in my mind. I have traveled many places, but never taken a road trip across this many state lines before. Every day we moved with…
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Not Another Motherhood Post: Part 187
One moment I am devouring my kids, dumbfounded by their brilliance and my insatiable need to snuggle them into oblivion. The next, motherhood devours me whole — then spits me out, bitter to the taste. When we had our third daughter, Mara, we were living in a tiny Airbnb. The railroad tracks ran just to our east and the Pacific…
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Mother // Nature
I wonder what it feels liketo cozy up with my arm and entwine with my hands. How does my warm body wrapped around the entirety of you feel?What is it like to be comforted by the sight and the scent of me;to watch me leave? Tell me, does the ocean wonder how her waves feel to the shore? Tell me, what is…
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Mother // Daughter
I am not responsible for every bad moodEvery freckle that appears(Should have put on more sunscreen)Every failure and every success.I am responsible for meFor who I am and the choices I make. We are separate Me and her Different people with different childhoods. Though sometimes it’s hard to see the lines between us whenShe came from me, through me.She never walks, only skips.While other…
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Garden Whispers
I was always praised for being fast and efficient –At work, at school, walking, even going peeGo go go go Get married, have kids, buy a house –Get it done.Then I stepped into the garden and all I kept hearing was slow down.This was very irritating. I’m better when I’m fastMore worthy and certainly more valuable.But then, The wheelbarrow tipped over and…
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More on Braving Joy
Nothing, other than grief, has taken me further from and also brought me closer to myself and the depth of human love than motherhood. I think that’s what they mean when they say, “Yeah, but it’s worth it!”. I am someone who relates to the world in a deep, larger-than-life way. My process is to feel and surround an experience…
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Heart Berry
“Did I ever tell you the story of how strawberries got their name?” my Dad would ask. My sisters and I would laugh and roll our eyes. Dad would throw us a friendly nudge. All of us knew that he had in fact told us that story. Too many times to count (though I was secretly happy to hear it…
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Altered Latitude 