13 Comments
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Dhana Musil's avatar

Beauty. Thank you for the words

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J. Martain's avatar

Ah, I love that this is the first post I read after subscribing. Thank you. ✨

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Jeannie Ewing's avatar

Jennie, this is a powerful reflection. Thank you for sharing your heart. This poetic line that came back to you while visiting your daughter in Boston - it was following you. I don't believe in coincidence. I do believe in divine orchestrations like these. What you shared here uplifts me, in the sense that the nudges happen to all of us, if only we pay attention. They are often quiet, hidden.

But there is room for all of life. To paraphrase Brene Brown, we can't numb the pain without also numbing the joy. To be fully human and fully alive, to me, means carrying an openness in my heart to these nudges and to listen to their message for my life.

And to sit in the tension, that liminal fence where both my hope and fear collide.

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Jennie Nash's avatar

Thank you for these lovely words!

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Maya Rushing Walker's avatar

I am near Boston, Jennie! Would love to visit that restaurant and see what message has been posted for (me!) that day!

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Richard Donnelly's avatar

"I have a tendency to catastrophize" That's how you know you're a writer : )

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Jennie Nash's avatar

Ha! I fear that is very true.

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

Love the poem. And I would have melted on the floor if I had seen those words again on the chalkboard - I love when the universe shows up like that 💜

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Jennie Nash's avatar

It was indeed surprising -- but also not???

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Alex Van Tol's avatar

This is awesome.

First, because I can TOTALLY SEE YOU going home to look up that line 😂 100% JN move

And second, I can't agree with you more that school teachers are—and ought to be acknowledged as—the people who hold the most precious and sacred of all jobs. With my magic wand, I'd create a world where everybody who takes a role in shaping children, from parents to ECE teachers to coaches to K-12 teachers and beyond, is supported to become their most grounded and loving self so that they can transmit that love through their service to children.

I will keep some room in my heart for the unimaginable 🏹

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Jennie Nash's avatar

HA -- I try to hold onto TWO words from a quote I hear in the wild -- in this case it was keep and unimaginable -- and then when I get in the car, I ask Siri to add a reminder to my phone. So: "Look up Mary Oliver keep, unimaginable." And most of the time, I don't even need to go back to the reminder. My brain holds onto it.

And UGH these words you write here -- so beautiful. You said it much better than I did.

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Sarah Chauncey's avatar

I love synchronicities like this (and I love Mary Oliver)! As you said yesterday, this life is a wild ride ☺️🎢 In my experience, the more I pay attention, the trippier it is 😄 That restaurant sounds amazing.

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Jennie Nash's avatar

It's so true -- it's such a trip! I will try to get the name of the restaurant for folks in Boston. It was awesome!

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