ever feel like you jinx yourself?

Hi Reader,

Well, it's been four weeks since my last update in which I proudly proclaimed I'd be sharing weekly pep talks 🤦🏻‍♀️

Rather than beat myself up, I'm simply acknowledging the false start and beginning again.

And to give myself a bit of grace, a confession: after just beginning to find a new rhythm to life in January, everything went a bit topsy-turvy in early February when my parents moved in with me.

Yes, I invited my parents to move in with me.
Yes, this was a planned move.
Yes, it is a good (and welcome) change.

BUT ALSO, change is hard. It's often disruptive and exhausting, even when anticipated or invited.

If you're navigating–or in the messy middle of–change in your life, take heart.

“When we make a change, it’s so easy to interpret our unsettledness as unhappiness, and our unhappiness as a result of having made the wrong decision. Our mental and emotional states fluctuate madly when we make big changes in our lives, and some days we could tight-rope across Manhattan, and other days we are too weary to clean our teeth. This is normal. This is natural. This is change.” –Jeanette Winterson

And if that change feels monumental, like a punctuation mark in your story, remember:

"Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way." –Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere

...or more poetically:

"When the music changes, so must your dance." –Elaine Welteroth

In my case that has looked like:

returning to my meditation practice, to tame frustration + release expectations
rebuilding my morning pages practice, to give myself at least 15-minutes a day of reflection through writing
confiding-in (and sometimes commiserating with) friends, often through a quick text
talking with my therapist and continuing to give myself a sh*t ton of grace

How about you? What changes are you facing? How do you manage the tension and uncertainty change brings?

If it helps to share your reflections with someone, be in touch. I personally read and respond to every reply.

in solidarity + with gentle encouragement,

Jennifer Barrett Fajardo
THOUGHT PARTNER · COACH · TRUSTED ADVISOR

p.s. If you could benefit from being in community with other women navigating (and MAKING) change, be sure to check out the Easy Please Sisterhood. Through the end of this week, you can lock-in your first three months of access for less than $100.