Hello friends, for the last time on Substack - but don’t worry, I’m not fully disappearing on you!

I’m moving platforms, but I’m not going anywhere. I decided to move my newsletter from Substack to Patreon to give me (& you!) a little bit more control.

If you are already subscribed, great! You don’t need to do anything :) You will automatically be added to my Patreon list.

If you just discovered me, you can go to my Patreon page to sign up now!

This allows me to give you more tier offerings, which I’m hoping to expand even more in the long run.

Right now, you can choose to subscribe for free and continue to get my weekly newsletters. Or…

• If you’d like to show me a little extra support (no pressure!), you can join the $3/month tier.

• For $5/month, you will get access to my budgeting template, plus a monthly bonus post.

• Down the line, I’d love to offer a $10/month option where I create a budget for you based on information you provide- let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in!

I’m excited to expand this little community even more, and there is even more to come - I’d love for you to join me.

With love, one last time on Substack,

Jess

Thanks for being a paid subscriber of All She Wrote! As a thank you, you get access to this month’s installment of The Parlor.

The Parlor is an extension of me, but it’s made for you. Once a month, I will share my favorites, new articles I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, and all the highlights of my month.

The Parlor is the place you come and stay a while. You sit and learn something. You share your thoughts, and we start a conversation. And I hope you like it!

Read more

Thanks for being a paid subscriber of All She Wrote! As a thank you, you get access to this month’s installment of The Parlor.

The Parlor is an extension of me, but it’s made for you. Once a month, I will share my favorites, new articles I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, and all the highlights of my month.

The Parlor is the place you come and stay a while. You sit and learn something. You share your thoughts, and we start a conversation. And I hope you like it!

Read more

I moved back home with my parents a few weeks ago and have since been digging through my childhood belongings, ones that have been collecting dust in boxes tucked into corners of the basement.

I gently lift the lid to find a stack of journals inside, dating back to when I was 8 or 9. A hobby I still keep up with now. But as I thumb through the pages, I feel a pang in my stomach.

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The girl who filled up endless journals had so much emotion. So much passion. Her feelings were so big.

I worry that I don’t have those same feelings anymore. That the dark parts of this world have beaten me down and made me numb. I’ve learned to hide or tamp down my feelings over time so as not to come across as “too emotional.”

When I write now, it’s not with the same level of emotion as it once was. Both positive and negative emotions.

And that makes me sad.

I want to continue to feel everything that life has to offer, as cheesy as that sounds. The good, the bad. I don’t want to hold back my emotions. It goes back to how I said we shouldn’t be nonchalant.

Our feelings are energy, and how we use that energy can literally change our lives. Even the “bad” emotions like anger and sadness and jealousy. Using those emotions and energy to create, to act, can lead to major changes in your life.

Letting those emotions go unnoticed, or not letting yourself fully feel them, leads to an empty, dull life.

I’m currently reading Joe Dispenza’s Becoming Supernatural, and this is one of the main ideas in the first few chapters, and it’s been changing my perspective a lot.

So I’m re-learning how to feel. Fully. With no shame. And it is not easy, but it is so healing and freeing.

With love,

Jess

It is so easy to get sucked into wanting more and more and more. We’re shown ad after ad online, on TV, in stores, on the streets.

Always showing us how to be more. Be more beautiful. Be more intelligent. Be more adventurous.

But what if I told you you were enough just how you are?

If we slow down enough to think about our lives and our inner, true selves, there is not much more we need in life. Most of us are lucky enough to be able to afford food, a place to live, and basic necessities.

Outside of that, everything else is extra.

We don’t need the fancy car or the latest trending skincare product or that viral hair tool. While those things may sound nice, they will not lead you to a more fulfilling life.

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The things that will fulfill you are spending time on hobbies. Working on improving your health. Learning something new. Meditating in silence. All of these things are free or relatively low cost.

You are enough just as you are. And the more we clutter our lives with things, the further we get from the true meaning of life. Our purpose is not to collect stuff. Our purpose is to spread love and joy and make connections and experience all emotions.

Because in the end, we won’t be buried with our things. You won’t be remembered for how much stuff you had. All we will be left with are the memories of who we were.

So before you make that next purchase that you absolutely need, pause first. Consider how it will improve your life. Will it actually change you? Or were you just made to believe it will?

With love,

Jess

A tough lesson for me to learn was that I had to stop holding onto everything in my life with such a tight fist. That in order to live the life I wanted — one of joy, freedom, peace, and love — I actually had to let go and surrender.

I’ve always been a control freak. I create a very strict schedule and to do list for myself every single day, and if things don’t go according to the plan in my head, I feel that my day is ruined.

Or at least I used to.

While I think it’s important to have discipline and a strong work ethic, I now think it’s equally as important to know how to be flexible and go with the flow. Because the harder I grasped at things, the less they would work out. And all it would do is cause me unnecessary stress and anger.

So I’ve been learning to let loose a little bit more. I’m not as rigid in my schedule as I used to be. I’m learning to say yes to spontaneous outings with friends more often. Or saying yes to things that make me uncomfortable or are unfamiliar because I know they will be beneficial to me.

My word of the year for 2026 is abundance. In order to receive, I have to empty my hands and make room for whatever is next.

I love the idea of increasing your surface area for luck. You have to put yourself out there and open your mind. That is how synchronicities will find you. It’s not by closing yourself off.

So this summer I am choosing to believe, I am choosing joy, I am choosing to let go. Because I can have everything I desire. And so can you.

With love,

Jess

Thanks for being a paid subscriber of All She Wrote! As a thank you, you get access to this month’s installment of The Parlor.

The Parlor is an extension of me, but it’s made for you. Once a month, I will share my favorites, new articles I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, and all the highlights of my month.

The Parlor is the place you come and stay a while. You sit and learn something. You share your thoughts, and we start a conversation. And I hope you like it!

Read more

It has been a little over a week since I left my corporate 9-5 job. No backup plan. No idea what I was going to do next. And I still don’t.

But this post has been sitting in my drafts for a long time. And yes, this is the big change I’ve been alluding to over several weeks. I started writing this post before I officially quit, adding new thoughts as they came up to accurately capture all of my feelings throughout this decision. And trust me, there have been many feelings. Lots of ups and downs ever since the first seed of this idea even came to my mind.

But overwhelmingly, what I feel most is peace. I have never felt like a greater weight has been taken off my shoulders than when I officially decided I was going to resign and knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

A peace that I haven’t felt in over a year. And that was the only sign I needed to know that I had made the right choice.

Yes, there is still so much fear in the uncertainty of my future. Fear of leaving a “good” job during a really tough job market. Fear about what I’m going to do next, and, let’s face it, how I’m going to afford my life—especially as someone who preaches about financial independence online.

But no job is worth sacrificing my mental health over. It was a soul-sucking feeling that weighed me down every single day. I became a shell of my former self. I didn’t recognize who I saw in the mirror. I felt an empty void. I didn’t feel fulfilled. I didn’t feel excited or passionate. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything valuable. And it was starting to affect all areas of my life.

I drowned myself in side quests and hobbies and running marathons all to escape that feeling, all in an effort to find meaning in my life outside of my career. I was doing so much all the time, but it wasn’t making me happier. I was burnt out. What I really needed was a break.

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And trust me, this was the hardest decision to make as an overachieving, perfectionist eldest daughter. My career and academic successes have been the defining aspects of my life for so long. I was good at my job. I climbed the corporate ladder pretty quickly and more than doubled my salary in my five years in corporate, thinking this was the end goal, the whole point.

And I feared what other people would think about me if I quit. I’m not a quitter. I don’t give up. I can’t fail. I’ve always known my next move. I’ve always had a plan.

But now I don’t. And setbacks are part of life. No one makes it through life in a straight upward trajectory. We all go through failures and pivots because it’s the universe’s way of guiding us back on the right path.

So, no, I don’t have a backup plan. I don’t know what’s next. I’m taking time to figure that out. I moved back home with my parents so that I don’t have to worry about rent. And I’m taking time off to rediscover who I am and who I want to be. Because my priorities and goals in life have changed, especially as I’ve gotten older. And I do believe I am destined for a bigger life than the one I was living. Than the one I dreaded waking up to. That is not how you should live your life.

I want to be happy and build meaningful relationships and travel and be healthy.

And I truly believe that growth requires discomfort. Sometimes you have to leap before you’re ready and just trust that the net will be there to catch you.

But I do know that I’ve always figured it out. I’ve always gotten back up. And I will again.

I’m 26 years old. My life is nowhere near over. Pivots are normal. There are no rules for how we live our lives. You can start over at any age.

And that is okay.

I will be okay.

With love,

Jess

I have been living in fight or flight mode for so many years. My body has grown accustomed to the feeling of a slight current of anxiety running through it at all times.

And being in that constant state of stress has been detrimental to my health, both physically and mentally.

Chronic stress is one of the biggest killers. It really does affect every other part of your body. So I’ve been doing some research lately on regulating my nervous system. I know this is a bit of a buzzy term right now, but I really do think it is important to do if you also live in this state of urgency, which many of us to naturally as a result of our current culture/environment.

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1. No phone for the first hour after waking up: I know this is an obvious one that you’ve probably heard before, but it does make a difference. If I wake up and immediately open my phone, it sets the tone for the whole day. I love my slow mornings where I do my morning pages, make lemon water, and read. It keeps me in a slower state for a longer period of time versus immediately jumping into productivity mode.

2. Eating meals in silence: This one is SO hard, but being fully present while I eat instead of scrolling or watching TV makes me feel better. It gives my brain and body time to actually sync up with each other, and overall improves my digestion, too, because I’m not gobbling up a meal in seconds. I’m slowing down, actually chewing my food properly.

3. Completing one task at a time: I know we’re all guilty of multitasking. I am constantly running around trying to maximize my time and be as efficient as possible, but this has also contributed to my dysregulated system. I have made my daily to-do lists much shorter, and I try to give my full attention to just one task at a time. There is no need to try to squeeze a million things into my day.

4. Lower impact movement: I am a gym girl through and through. I will always praise strength training/weight lifting, but recently I’ve been giving myself a bit more rest in between my heavier lifting days and just focusing on walking or doing some yoga and light stretching, which feels great for my body. The key is having that balance instead of hitting the gym super hard 6-7 days a week.

   

5. Diaphragmatic breathing & sighing out loud: Breathwork has so many benefits to it, and I could go on and on forever. Not only does it help me clear my mind, but you also feel a physical release in your body when you do it consistently. It sounds silly, but sighing out loud makes me feel like a weight is being lifted off my shoulders.

6. Lymphatic drainage & fascia release: I’ve been looking into fascia release a lot lately, and this goes with the diaphragmatic breathing. My body holds so much tension, especially in my neck and shoulders, which then contributes to my poor posture and breathing. It’s all connected! Dry brushing and foam rolling consistently have allowed me to let go of a lot of that tension, and I feel lighter.

7. Analog hobbies: Anything that gets me off my screens is good for me. I know that, so I’ve been trying to get back into playing chess, solitaire, coloring/painting, doing crossword puzzles, etc. Less time doomscrolling and hearing about all of the bad things going on in the world. There’s a time and place for that, but it doesn’t have to be all the time!

This is something I am really working on, but am far from perfect at. I am making it a big goal for the summer to truly hone in on this and fix my deregulated nervous system. And if you have any other tips, please share!

With love,

Jess

Thanks for being a paid subscriber of All She Wrote! As a thank you, you get access to this month’s installment of The Parlor.

The Parlor is an extension of me, but it’s made for you. Once a month, I will share my favorites, new articles I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, and all the highlights of my month.

The Parlor is the place you come and stay a while. You sit and learn something. You share your thoughts, and we start a conversation. And I hope you like it!

Read more

As some of you may know, I started yoga teacher training in January, and it has taken over my life - both literally and figuratively. I’ve spent the last 4 months at training nearly every weekend, Friday through Sunday. And when I wasn’t in training, I was practicing my cueing, doing my assigned reading, or taking classes.

I knew for years that I would eventually do my teacher training, but I did not realize just how much it would change my life. It is not just about the physical practice; it is about connecting to yourself, to the world and community, and to a higher being.

This deep discipline and commitment to the practice has altered my brain chemistry, so now I want to pass along the wisdom I gained in the hopes that it teaches you something, too.

And, who knows, maybe it even inspires you to go on your own teacher journey!

1. Loving kindness above all: Approaching life with an open heart and allowing love to really permeate throughout your whole body is what yoga is all about. We live in such a dark and heavy world right now, and it is up to us to persevere and spread kindness to others, not tear each other down even more.

2. The art of detachment: Learning to let go and truly surrender is the biggest lesson I learned. As someone who can be a bit of a control freak, makes a to-do list every day, etc., this was not easy for me to do. But it is so freeing once you truly embody this idea. The universe is doing its thing. We are all going to go through ups and downs. We don’t know anything. We can’t control the outcome. We can just move through this very moment.

3. Yoga is a practice: Some days you show up with a lot of energy and strength and you feel good. Other days you step on the mat and you can’t balance in tree pose. Each day is going to feel different. You will never achieve perfection. There is no perfection. There is just showing up and practicing.

4. There is no single truth: I am right, and you are right. Holding on to your beliefs and not allowing space for other truths is one of the greatest disservices you can do to yourself. Making space for others’ opinions, trying to see things from a new perspective, and actually listening will do wonders for you. I promise. Two things can be true at once.

5. You have to do it for yourself: There is so much beauty in the community of yoga. I love the people I’ve met through this practice so so much. But you have to have your own practice. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and if you want to be a good teacher, you have to give yourself space and time to rest and recover and prioritize your own yoga.

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6. Let go of your ego: You don’t have to be the best in every class and get to every “advanced” pose. Give your body what it needs and only push to the limit you have that day.

7. Learn to be okay with discomfort: Growth requires discomfort. Sitting still can be uncomfortable. Teaching a class for the first time is uncomfortable. Some poses are uncomfortable. Learning to be okay in those moments and pushing through that discomfort (to a limit) will make you stronger.

8. There is power in ritual: Find a space for yourself and your practice. Find a practice that feels good to you. And do it over and over and over again. Repetition is how you reach that higher state. Consistency. Discipline. Coming back day after day after day. That is what a spiritual practice is.

9. Just breathe: The breath is available to you at any time. You can always come back to it. Find it. Feel it. Use it to quiet your mind or to give yourself energy.

10. You will never know everything, and that is okay: A 200-hour teacher training is just the beginning. Once you become a teacher, you are still also a student. The learning never stops. We just barely scratched the surface, and I’m so excited to keep diving in deeper and deeper. You don’t know what you don’t know. You also won’t have all the answers for every student’s question. And that is also okay.

Om shanti, shanti, shanti.

With love,

Jess

I’ve been in a little bit of a rut lately. I feel like I’m very much just going through the motions of my daily life right now. I have a lot going on, so my brain is feeling a little chaotic, and my body feels exhausted.

I’m feeling off. Not myself. And I’ve been here before. It’s not my first rodeo. I’m sure you’ve experienced this feeling before, too.

So how do you get out of it?

I thought that I would share my formula with you because it always works, even though I often resist it at first. Because it’s not easy. But it is simple. It’s just about going back to the basics.

Your brain and your body already know exactly what you need. Sometimes you just need to pick yourself up and do it. So save this, take what resonates with you, and leave the rest. But I hope it helps if you’re feeling like you’re in a bit of a funk, too.

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1. Clean my space: This is often the first step I take because it feels like the easiest to do for me. I always say you can tell the state of my mind by the state of my room. Tidying my desk, deep cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming the floors—I feel more at peace instantly. It allows my body to relax a little bit more, too, because I can sit peacefully in bed and not feel the clutter around me.

2. Brick my phone: Getting off my phone is the next step every time. I always know I’m in a funk when my screentime goes up an insane amount. It means I’m not doing enough outside of my phone. Living my real life. So I block all social media apps off my phone (if you don’t have a Brick—which I highly recommend—just delete the apps) for a whole day, weekend, week. Whatever I need. Stepping away and reminding myself there is more to life than what other people are doing on the internet gives me the perspective I need. It also helps propel me into the rest of the list because it means I’m bored and need something to do.

   

3. Long walks outside: I need to literally touch grass sometimes. We’ve become so disconnected from nature as a society, but I truly believe it has healing properties. It is finally beginning to be nice outside again, so it is even easier now to step outside and go on a long walk. I try to really be present when I do this, too. I don’t have headphones in, I look up at the birds, I gaze out at the water, I people watch. It centers me.

4. Journaling and meditating: Connecting to myself is super important. Making space to sit with myself and my thoughts really grounds me. It allows me to observe my feelings and work out why I’m in the funk in the first place. Sometimes we just need to be still.

5. Find a hobby: Once I’ve cleaned my space, found some movement, and made peace with my mind, I can now focus on the external. What am I excited about right now? What would make me feel good? Do I want to learn to bake something new? Do I want to pick up a good book to learn something new? Maybe I want to paint or draw or play piano. You need to find whatever it is that brings even the littlest bit of joy to you and do it. Something that will make you feel more energized after you do it, rather than making you feel depleted.

6. Phone a friend: When all else fails, talking it out with a friend is so therapeutic. This is the one I probably struggle the most with. I know that I tend to shut myself off from the world because I am a very independent and introverted person, but community is important. Going to the people you trust and spending time with them is a great cure. I don’t think it’s talked about enough. We are a very lonely society because of the internet. We feel so connected all the time because we have our phones, but the connections are so weak. Being in person with someone, that one-on-one time, is really valuable.

And that’s it! You can do these in any order you’d like. Skip around. Come back to one later. But I do feel like these basics really bring me back to myself. Bring me back home.

I’d love to know if there’s something you’d add to this list, so please feel free to reply or leave a comment to share.

With love,

Jess

Our life is this very moment. The current one you are experiencing. The past is gone. It’s over. You can’t change it. The future hasn’t happened yet. You don’t know if it will or if you will be there to experience it.

You truly only have this moment in front of you right now.

One of life’s biggest secrets is that slowing down is actually how you gain more time.

You might be thinking, how does that make sense? Time doesn’t change based on how quickly I move.

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But think about it. When you’re rushing throughout your day, moving from one moment to the next, not even thinking about what you’re doing or taking a second to pause, all of a sudden, the day is over. You blink, and it’s gone.

Now think about a time when you were forced to slow down. Maybe you were waiting at a doctor’s office with nothing to do. Or you finished all of your work, but were stuck in the office all day anyway. Notice how slow time was moving. Every second felt like hours.

But the same is true of the good moments. The ones you want to last forever.

When you are living in the present moment and allow yourself to soak it all in, you will notice how much more time you have. When I take my time in the morning, and I don’t rush from one thing to the other, I feel like I have so many more hours in the day. When I am fully present with my friends instead of thinking about my to-do list or checking my phone, it feels like we’ve spent hours together.

So I challenge you to catch yourself in those moments when you’re rushing, especially for no reason, and pause. Take a breath. Live in the present moment. Use your five senses to really feel every little thing you’re doing. Let your body notice.

Washing the dishes? Feel the warm water running across your hands. The soap suds dripping down.

Making coffee? Notice the smell of the beans as you grind them. Really savor the taste of that first sip.

On a walk? Take your headphones out or put your phone away. Look up at the birds in the trees.

This will also help your body relax, and you’ll be able to get out of the constant fight-or-flight response you may be living in. I know I was. You have to remind your nervous system that you’re safe sometimes, if you’ve been living in this constant state of urgency.

There’s really no rush. Slow down.

With love,

Jess

I know I’m not the only one to come on the internet and say that showing you care is cool. But it’s something that’s been on my mind a lot lately because I’m noticing more and more how apathetic our society has become.

Part of it, I believe, stems from how desensitized we’ve become to the horrific events that we see every single day. We’re exposed to so much bad news that we’ve had to learn to shut off parts of ourselves because it becomes too much to carry all that heaviness on our shoulders. It’s a form of self-protection.

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But that same numbness is starting to seep into our everyday lives.

We’re constantly bombarded by stories and posts and TikToks and ads online, telling us what’s in, what’s trending, what’s cool. We’re told how to think, what to watch, who to be. So much so, it’s hard to separate what we actually like from what we’ve been told to like.

And it’s also affecting how we connect and form relationships. We’re not allowing our walls to come down. We’re not being our authentic selves. We’re more guarded. We’re agreeable. We hold parts of ourselves back because it feels safer than saying what’s really on our minds.

We’re looking for connection by conforming, rather than true, unconditional love.

But real love comes from being honest.

Real love looks like effort. It means showing you care. It’s being excited and giddy and letting your walls down and allowing yourself to be known. Fully. Unconditionally.

I wrote a post last year about vulnerability, and I think a lot of those concepts apply here: we’re afraid to stand out or be different because it opens us up to rejection. We’re afraid that if we show our true desires, that person will no longer love us. But to be loved and fully understood, you have to let go of validation and approval.

Trying to fit into a mold and make yourself liked by everyone just makes life a performance. And I don’t want to spend my life playing a part.

I’ve learned over the years to be much more comfortable being myself versus being a people pleaser. No longer being who I think people want. I let myself be excited about the things I love. I say what I actually think.

There’s nothing embarrassing about caring. Because I know the people who are meant for me will also be excited and will also show me they care. Choosing to be someone who genuinely cares has been the most freeing experience of my life.

With love,

Jess

Thanks for being a paid subscriber of All She Wrote! As a thank you, you get access to this month’s installment of The Parlor.

The Parlor is an extension of me, but it’s made for you. Once a month, I will share my favorites, new articles I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, and all the highlights of my month.

The Parlor is the place you come and stay a while. You sit and learn something. You share your thoughts, and we start a conversation. And I hope you like it!

Subscribe now

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I talk a lot about the power of words, our thoughts, and manifestation. But I never want anyone to get the wrong idea when I do. Yes, I believe words hold a lot of meaning. They can inspire us. They can find us when we need them most.

But words alone will not get you where you are meant to go. Words alone will not lift you out of a hole.

The key to manifestation is aligning your words with your actions. That is how you achieve results.

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You are creating your life every single day. Your life is not just your big accomplishments and achievements. Each decision you make determines your life. Your life is made up of every moment of every day. You are living it right now. It is how you choose to live in the small moments. How you choose to show up.

It can be easy to fall into a victim mindset. Blame the universe. Blame the job. Blame the friend. Blame anyone but ourselves. But we have a choice. We can choose to get up and move our bodies when we’re tired or have a million other things to do. Or we can choose to doomscroll all day and tell ourselves we’ll start that passion project next week. When you see someone else living out your dreams, instead of getting frustrated or jealous, ask yourself, “Why can’t it be you?” It can.

Once you realize that you have so much more control over your life than you think, you open up endless possibilities. It is often difficult to do because it means having to move. You have to actively go out and get it. Taking that first step is usually hardest. But that is how to create momentum. That’s the secret to the magic.

And once you start, it gets so much easier to keep going. So even if you just take one baby step every day and envision that dream life, you will slowly get closer to it. And eventually the ball will start rolling faster and faster until one day you wake up, and you’re living it. You’re there. You’ve made it.

So who do you want to be?

With love,

Jess

My life is about to change in a very dramatic way. I know, I know, I keep alluding to this (more to come as soon as I can share, I promise). But it is a complete 180 from the life I live now. And that is so, so scary.

I’ve been weighing all of the different options in my head for over 6 months. The pros and cons. The ‘what ifs.’ It felt like a ping-pong ball was bouncing around in my brain.

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I was paralyzed by choice, and it’s because I was grieving all of the paths I won’t go down. All of the lives I won’t get to live. And I was grieving the life I currently live because it means losing some things that I love.

But grieving some parts of you or the lives that you won’t get to experience does not mean you are making the wrong choice. I realized I had to make the difficult choice. Even if it means letting go of my current life. Even if it hurts.

Because grief is part of the process of growth. You have to go through loss to experience change.

I know that the life I am meant to live is much bigger than my current one. There is so much more to my life. I can feel that I am meant for greater things. So to do those things and achieve greatness, I need to surrender. I need to let go of the things I am holding on to so tightly. I have to detach from the things that no longer serve me so I can make room in my life for more.

When you do not allow fear to control your decisions, you live in true alignment with yourself. When you put your trust and your faith in yourself and the universe, the right path for you will reveal itself.

So you have to learn to be okay with grief. Notice it. Feel it. Then let it go. And remember that it is a sign you are headed in the right direction.

With love,

Jess

I’ve been thinking a lot about the word ‘journaling’ lately. I have been a lifelong journaler, starting from the minute I could pick up a pen and write. I’ve chronicled my life, my thoughts, things going on in the world, it goes on and on.

But oftentimes when I talk to other people about journaling—specifically people who don’t journal—I’m often met with “I don’t have anything interesting to say” or “I don’t even know what I would write about.”

Chances are if you’re on Substack, you probably are a journaler. Or writer or chronicler of some kind. But outside of this sphere, I notice a lot of resistance to the idea of journaling. Like it is some “woo woo” practice (and don’t get me wrong, I love a woo woo practice).

And I realized it’s not the journaling itself that’s the problem. It’s the word.

The word journaling brings to mind writing out your day, from morning to night, in sequential order. Describing the things you did. The people you saw. What you had for dinner.

And, yes, that can be one aspect of journaling. But it’s certainly not all there is to journaling. It actually doesn’t have to be any part of your journaling practice.

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Journaling to me is a way to make sense of your brain and the world around you. It is getting your thoughts down on paper. It is making observations. Working out your feelings. It can be as simple as writing down a conversation you overheard that made you smile. Or it can be jotting down a song lyric you came up with on a walk. It can be answering a deep existential question that has been plaguing you. Or it can be copying down a quote from a movie because it inspired you. It can be describing how the sun felt shining down on your face for the first time in weeks after a long winter. Or it can be writing down your hopes and dreams for the future.

Journaling is to bring about clarity. It is about getting closer to your inner self. It is about having a stronger understanding of other people. It is for documenting.

There are no rules. It is simply taking note of things that interest you at that time and place. Don’t get caught up in what you think journaling is supposed to be. And let yourself just write.

I hope this sparks something in you if you are not someone who journals frequently, and maybe it inspires you to pick up a pen and just play around with it! And if you are a fellow journaler, maybe this inspired you to think about your journal in a new way.

Either way, please share your thoughts with me, too!

With love,

Jess

Believing in yourself is one of the ultimate superpowers to have. Trusting that you will figure it out, that you will make it happen, that you will achieve all that you desire—that is freedom.

It is not an easy feat to achieve. We all have fears. Fear of failure. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of rejection. Fear of finding the wrong love. Fear of not finding love at all.

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But if we live in our fears all the time, we will never truly live. If we let our fears guide us, we will be stuck in the same place. Fear keeps us in our comfort zone. Fear stunts growth.

A big mantra for me lately has been “do it scared.” Do it not because of your fear but despite it. I believe that our fears are telling us we are on the right path. Because if our dreams didn’t scare us, then they weren’t big enough to begin with.

When I stopped letting my fear of posting on social media get to me, it led to so many amazing experiences that I am beyond grateful for. When I let go of my fear of the unknown when I moved into my first apartment three years ago, my life changed for the better in so many ways.

I am about to make a leap that really scares me. I have a fear that I can feel in the back of my throat trying to jump out, but my gut and my heart are telling me I’m on the right path. Listen to your heart and your gut. Intuition is so powerful, and you already know exactly what you need to do. Even if everyone else is telling you the opposite.

Sometimes you need to block out the world and come home to yourself. What is your intuition telling you?

I challenge you to do one scary thing this week! Send that text! Make that phone call! Apply to that job! Make the move! Whatever it is that your body has been itching for, but you have been ignoring.

With love,

Jess

Thanks for being a paid subscriber of All She Wrote! As a thank you, you get access to this month’s installment of The Parlor.

The Parlor is an extension of me, but it’s made for you. Once a month, I will share my favorites, new articles I’ve read or podcasts I’ve listened to, and all the highlights of my month.

The Parlor is the place you come and stay a while. You sit and learn something. You share your thoughts, and we start a conversation. And I hope you like it!

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