One of my biggest fears is regret.
I don’t mean this as a life of continuous risk and death-defying victories but, rather, absences. What will I regret NOT saying? NOT changing? NOT making peace with or investing in or experimenting with? The NOTs motivate me. They also burn me out.
As we sink into full-blown summer, I find myself reflecting on the year so far and considering options for the rest of 2026. There are ideas and projects that I will easily move across the finish line and others that are clearly not in the cards. But it’s those halfway complete and still fuzzy ideas that beckon the loudest. Where will I travel, how will I invest my creative time, which Plucky classes and groups will I offer in the fall? I don’t yet know.
Luckily, time is a friend to unripe fruit. Though this purgatory time of NOT-choosing feels awful (I am a person who likes action), I know it’s necessary. I’ll take August off again this summer and trust that decisions will become obvious as we get closer to September.
Need a tangible check-in on your own initiatives? I remind you of My Plucky Path 2026, a free career-planning guide. Print out the pages that resonate, grab a popsicle and reflect away. We’re only halfway through the year; what’s yet to arrive?!
Podcast Love
The Life Shift Podcast
Need something to listen to on a long drive this summer? Matt Gilhooly hosts a prolific podcast that talks about the powerful moments when our lives shift. I had a meaningful conversation with him earlier this spring and I encourage you to listen here!
Choose to Be Curious
… and I was recently featured on Lynn Borton’s fantastic show in which she interviews folks about curiosity! You can listen wherever you get podcasts or go directly to the show’s site here.
Ohio, what is UP!
I am road tripping to Columbus, Ohio on Friday morning and then flying to Chicago in about a month. Would love to see you all.
Event: Columbus Book Festival
Date: Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12
Location: Columbus, OH
Event: Chicago Book Reading & Signing
Date: August 11 at 6:30pm
Location: Kibbitznest Books, Brews & Blarney, Chicago
RSVP optional
Haven’t yet picked up a copy of I Believe in Everything? Grab one wherever you get books…
And West Coast, dates still TBD but I’ll see you in the fall!
Three years ago, I started a daily practice of 20-minute YouTube yoga before anyone else was awake. As the end-of-school season overwhelmed June, I opted to sleep in and then we went on vacation and before I knew it, I had not stretched in four weeks. When I tell you I felt ELDERLY in the London Underground last week, hoo boy. Hobbling around after a few days of 18k steps, at first I thought that I had pulled every muscle in my lower half, needed Achilles surgery or required a Buckingham noble steed.
But no, my gym trainer assured me, I just overdid it. It was the NOT doing that resulted in some discomfort and there’s a pretty easy solution. Get back on track.
I write this to you after completing my 20-minute yoga video this morning, mobile once again. Sometimes problems aren’t emergencies. In our absurd modern world, I find that necessary to remember.
Happy summer,
xo Jen
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