First blog....

So I had this great idea of becoming a blogger. Why not? I can write. I went to college for that. God knows, I have opinions. Life has shown me a thing or two that merit reflection. I should make this a thing, right?

I told my family. I told my friends. Do it, do it, do it, they said. That’s perfect for you, they said. I can’t wait to read your stuff, they said.

Me neither.

The eighth, ninth, and tenth hour have passed and it is coming on the eleventh which is TIME to write and post my first blog. Hello, internets! It’s Jenny and I am ready to STRIKE!

Still waiting to strike....

My desire to blog is rooted in so many different things, but my belief in my ability has grown from simple things such as well liked Facebook posts or passionate and often hysterical conversations that turn into rants with friends over the second and third glass of wine. Feedback fuels me. That’s obvious. 

What isn’t as clear, at this moment,  is where I find the topic.

On any given day, I will pick up the phone in the second half hour of the Today show and call my sister to say, “Did you just see that?” She and I will then embark on a dissection of “that” and verbalize a summation and verdict on “that” that, I believe, is both brilliant and hilarious.

But you’d have to take my word for it, I guess.

So the first blog… recreate the brilliant and hilarious opinion. Tell the inspiring story. Teach. 

Yup.

Today I attended the ACS Pink Ribbon Classic.  See my blog about this event.The ninth annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society that is this awesome blend of strong women and golf and silent auctions and partying and major dollars raised in the fight against cancer. In the past 48 hours, I had a lot to say about this event and I spilled it all over social media. 

And then I realized something that most people who love me have known for a while. I am extremely reactive.

My parents have told me that when I was little I used to say that I knew when I was about to cry because “it got all caught up in my throat”. (Precious, I know.) What is now becoming clear to me is my desire and ability to write comes from the things that get all "caught up in my throat".

Be it an overflow of gratitude for my family, an awe for the amazing, beautiful, ridiculous and horrific things life can bring or an overwhelming burning desire to call someone out for complete and shameful A-hole behavior, it has to get "caught up in my throat".  Lucky for me, there’s typically no shortage of that.

So you just wait... The topics will come. And we will decide together. 

Welcome to my personal blog...

Friends:

I am glad you are here. Many of you I know, some I don't, but hope to.  Let me explain why I have started this site and invited you here.  As a cancer survivor, hospice nurse, Mom, and human, I might have a unique perspective on everyday life. Or, I might not. What I am certain is that I have a lot to say about this human experience and much of it is tainted by what I have lived through and what I have the privilege to observe. I would like this to be a space you can visit and walk away from feeling like someone else out there "gets it". Many of my life experiences and so very many of my nursing experiences have shown me that isolation may be the worst feeling of all. "No one understands what I am going through or what I am thinking". I would like to try to be a voice for those feelings. And they're not always reverent and they may not always be popular, but if my blogs can give you the gift that conversations with my sister give me, than I will continue to write.  Vent, laugh, rage, be inspired - whatever the case may be. Join me in the Hopespot and get comfortable.