Ooh so clearly put! I gave up being a nurse over 20 years ago. I am a very caring person and find it easy but couldn't fit in to the culture. It was very stressful for my body. Then when my son and brother died 8 months apart in road crashes I thought my calling was to educate people about road safety. It wasn't and I didn't. I saw people doing that and it didn't look healthy to me. Since that time I have been writing. I have started several books and felt I had to write a book about grief. I even completed the first draft three years ago but then couldn't face it. Recently I had the opportunity to be coached for free to get my grief book pitched to publishers and agents. I tried to do the work but I knew my heart wasn't in it. Two days ago I let it go. I am not quite clear what my path is exactly except that it is to write. Here on substack which I love 😍 Thanks for writing this Jen. Xx
All of that Karen took courage and listening to yourself. Thanks for sharing the story so everyone in the process knows they are not alone. I think these times call us to listen hard to our hearts. Im glad you're following yours and writing right here!
Maybe your calling is to continue YOUR healing journey and model courage, strength, and resilience. Imagine a world in which everyone took on the work of self healing rather than projecting our wounds outward.
Thank you for this. It was so on point for me. For years, I taught theatre and love it until I realized I was exhausted, went back to school, and changed my path. I continued teaching which I loved and became a school librarian with focus on community outreach and service. My focus on service continued for a number of years even after I retired. I volunteered for a number of organizations. For the past two years there has been COVID and a cancer diagnosis. I am happy to say I am healthy, but I find myself feeling pressured and overwhelmed by the same work I did before. Your words have helped to reinforce that this is a time to rejuvenate and focus on those things that make me healthy and spark my creativity rather than continuing the things I have become accustomed to doing. I need to give myself permission to just be for a while and to enjoy the things that make me feel creative .
Wow, oh wow, this hits home. I've run a business since 2005; although I love my clients and I love the work, it doesn't have the same zing for me anymore. I've also been trying to get a nonprofit off the ground since 2016; although it's done a lot of good, I'm tired of being the only one who's doing all the work and trying to push the effort forward. I've been sitting with this discomfort for a long time (too long!) and this year is my year for discernment and alignment. Thanks for sharing this, Jen -- your words are shifting my thinking on when it's time to say when.
I shuttered my embroidery art business in order to make more room for writing. Books were my original calling (I have a literature degree.) but life took over, as it sometimes does, and I ended up working in business for most of my career. Then I moved to art when I had my daughter, and now, as an empty nester, I am back where I started, with books again. What a journey!
there is an often circular nature to our callings, a sort of start and then do something else, and come back to what first called us. I'm finding that too. It must be so delightful to work with books again.
This could have been written for me - I definitely have felt like being a woman in tech and leading a tech business is a calling. And I want to do other things (like the novels we talked about last week!)... and I'm also really passionate about growing food, regenerative agriculture, and permaculture.
I love the permission to let go when you've been carrying it for so long, and you feel like the mission is accomplished. :)
I have loved watching you branch out into all your other passions, it's super exciting and also permission giving. and maybe your other passions make it easier to stay with the tech calling??
I've saved this one as I need to remind myself of this. I have felt called to various types of care work but know that Its time to lay that identity down. Its hard when your sense of self feels so intwinned. I am not ambitious nor do I have big dreams. I'd like to make time for hobbies and time with friends and family. The letting go is so necessary though to make space for something new to flouish
Jen I’m glad you’re making space for your dreams, the size of which do not matter one bit. All that matters is they interest you, excite you, invite you to dig in to life. Keep us posted!
Thanks for this Jennifer. A beautiful reminder that we grow, we learn, we evolve and sometimes we are moved in a new direction. It’s all part of the richness, even when we think we are losing out. 🙏💫
Congrats on helping Lauren with her quest for a NYT bestseller! Well done.
You raise so many great points in this post Jennifer. I have walked away at times, other times I have not (insert grimace here)! A walking away example happened when I chose not to go ahead with an online course I planned to teach. I just tabled the whole thing which accidentally freed up enough time for me to build my Substack newsletter, something that had not been in my mind when I chose not to teach. I'm grateful that I threw in the towel which, as the cliche says, opened a new door I did not see.
When do we know we are done? I think it takes getting quiet and going within to hear the whispers of our soul, but of course, there are other times when our higher power is shouting at us to step away from the crazy train. I sense that Lauren's inner self was pretty clear she was done!
As an artist, I see the phases in my work now and realize that moving from one form or one media to another is my way of saying ‘mission accomplished’.
I love this so much. I want to requote you back to you 11 times. I love this line too: "Yet we must pay as much or more attention to the costs of staying put." And also, the idea of creating space so the next thing can come. @penneypeirce talks about the void (that space) and why it's so hard for us. I think you'd like this episode of the Jenny and Penney show - https://www.pivotmethod.com/podcast/liminal-space
Oh that definitely came out wrong. I didn't mean I want to quote you back to yourself because you need to learn it. I meant I want to just keep quoting you to yourself even though you already crowded it yourself because you think it's true. I just love it all and I feel like I just want to quote the whole thing. You know, so you're not a slow learner. I just wrote it incorrectly hehe
Thank you for sharing and shedding light on this very real concern. Late in my work life I happened into a job working with at risk students. Eight years later I am having a hard time leaving this job. Yet I would like to use my experience in different ways and devote more time to my writing.
Sure! Things stopped working, Jennifer. It no longer "fit". It was a sense of things being harder where before everything flowed. I found myself looking for new vistas and opportunities. What used to be fulfilling is tiresome.
Thanks for sharing!
Ooh so clearly put! I gave up being a nurse over 20 years ago. I am a very caring person and find it easy but couldn't fit in to the culture. It was very stressful for my body. Then when my son and brother died 8 months apart in road crashes I thought my calling was to educate people about road safety. It wasn't and I didn't. I saw people doing that and it didn't look healthy to me. Since that time I have been writing. I have started several books and felt I had to write a book about grief. I even completed the first draft three years ago but then couldn't face it. Recently I had the opportunity to be coached for free to get my grief book pitched to publishers and agents. I tried to do the work but I knew my heart wasn't in it. Two days ago I let it go. I am not quite clear what my path is exactly except that it is to write. Here on substack which I love 😍 Thanks for writing this Jen. Xx
All of that Karen took courage and listening to yourself. Thanks for sharing the story so everyone in the process knows they are not alone. I think these times call us to listen hard to our hearts. Im glad you're following yours and writing right here!
Maybe your calling is to continue YOUR healing journey and model courage, strength, and resilience. Imagine a world in which everyone took on the work of self healing rather than projecting our wounds outward.
I imagine that a lot!
Thank you for this. It was so on point for me. For years, I taught theatre and love it until I realized I was exhausted, went back to school, and changed my path. I continued teaching which I loved and became a school librarian with focus on community outreach and service. My focus on service continued for a number of years even after I retired. I volunteered for a number of organizations. For the past two years there has been COVID and a cancer diagnosis. I am happy to say I am healthy, but I find myself feeling pressured and overwhelmed by the same work I did before. Your words have helped to reinforce that this is a time to rejuvenate and focus on those things that make me healthy and spark my creativity rather than continuing the things I have become accustomed to doing. I need to give myself permission to just be for a while and to enjoy the things that make me feel creative .
total permission for sure! Seasons of life are sometimes hard to allow but gosh I regret every time I didn't. Let those sparks come back!
Wow, oh wow, this hits home. I've run a business since 2005; although I love my clients and I love the work, it doesn't have the same zing for me anymore. I've also been trying to get a nonprofit off the ground since 2016; although it's done a lot of good, I'm tired of being the only one who's doing all the work and trying to push the effort forward. I've been sitting with this discomfort for a long time (too long!) and this year is my year for discernment and alignment. Thanks for sharing this, Jen -- your words are shifting my thinking on when it's time to say when.
I shuttered my embroidery art business in order to make more room for writing. Books were my original calling (I have a literature degree.) but life took over, as it sometimes does, and I ended up working in business for most of my career. Then I moved to art when I had my daughter, and now, as an empty nester, I am back where I started, with books again. What a journey!
there is an often circular nature to our callings, a sort of start and then do something else, and come back to what first called us. I'm finding that too. It must be so delightful to work with books again.
This could have been written for me - I definitely have felt like being a woman in tech and leading a tech business is a calling. And I want to do other things (like the novels we talked about last week!)... and I'm also really passionate about growing food, regenerative agriculture, and permaculture.
I love the permission to let go when you've been carrying it for so long, and you feel like the mission is accomplished. :)
I have loved watching you branch out into all your other passions, it's super exciting and also permission giving. and maybe your other passions make it easier to stay with the tech calling??
I've saved this one as I need to remind myself of this. I have felt called to various types of care work but know that Its time to lay that identity down. Its hard when your sense of self feels so intwinned. I am not ambitious nor do I have big dreams. I'd like to make time for hobbies and time with friends and family. The letting go is so necessary though to make space for something new to flouish
Jen I’m glad you’re making space for your dreams, the size of which do not matter one bit. All that matters is they interest you, excite you, invite you to dig in to life. Keep us posted!
I haven't yet found a new calling. This is making it harder for me to end/give my old calling(s).
Sometimes we have to step into the unknown for something new to become clear and I get why that feels often impossible. ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for this Jennifer. A beautiful reminder that we grow, we learn, we evolve and sometimes we are moved in a new direction. It’s all part of the richness, even when we think we are losing out. 🙏💫
So well said!! ❤️
Congrats on helping Lauren with her quest for a NYT bestseller! Well done.
You raise so many great points in this post Jennifer. I have walked away at times, other times I have not (insert grimace here)! A walking away example happened when I chose not to go ahead with an online course I planned to teach. I just tabled the whole thing which accidentally freed up enough time for me to build my Substack newsletter, something that had not been in my mind when I chose not to teach. I'm grateful that I threw in the towel which, as the cliche says, opened a new door I did not see.
When do we know we are done? I think it takes getting quiet and going within to hear the whispers of our soul, but of course, there are other times when our higher power is shouting at us to step away from the crazy train. I sense that Lauren's inner self was pretty clear she was done!
I think you’re very right Donna. Lauren knew and sounds like you did too.
As an artist, I see the phases in my work now and realize that moving from one form or one media to another is my way of saying ‘mission accomplished’.
I never thought about it that way! Thank you for that perspective 🫶🏽
This could apply to many people I know.
i hope it helps them if you feel comfortable sharing.
I love this so much. I want to requote you back to you 11 times. I love this line too: "Yet we must pay as much or more attention to the costs of staying put." And also, the idea of creating space so the next thing can come. @penneypeirce talks about the void (that space) and why it's so hard for us. I think you'd like this episode of the Jenny and Penney show - https://www.pivotmethod.com/podcast/liminal-space
you have full permission to quote me back to me every day cause clearly I am a slow learner.
Oh that definitely came out wrong. I didn't mean I want to quote you back to yourself because you need to learn it. I meant I want to just keep quoting you to yourself even though you already crowded it yourself because you think it's true. I just love it all and I feel like I just want to quote the whole thing. You know, so you're not a slow learner. I just wrote it incorrectly hehe
I didn't take it the wrong way, I do need me quoted back to myself!!! For reals!!
Thank you for sharing and shedding light on this very real concern. Late in my work life I happened into a job working with at risk students. Eight years later I am having a hard time leaving this job. Yet I would like to use my experience in different ways and devote more time to my writing.
I believe we can give ourselves room that new will come. hugs!
Jennifer, this is so good. Knowing when to walk away and then doing it is so hard. I've done it several times. Thanks for posting this.
Would you be willing to share what helped you know it was time? Just of you are comfortable ❤️
Sure! Things stopped working, Jennifer. It no longer "fit". It was a sense of things being harder where before everything flowed. I found myself looking for new vistas and opportunities. What used to be fulfilling is tiresome.
Well done! Thank you.
appreciate that so much!