Welcome, July

Happy July!

You know the Jay-Z song that begins with “allow me to re-introduce myself”? The Millennials definitely just rapped that in their heads! That’s how I feel like I need to begin this letter to you.

Last I wrote, it was the very beginning of 2026, a fresh new year on the horizon. I wrote about creating community: how to gather people together, to battle loneliness with purposeful in-person connection. And gather, I did. I hope you’ve had a chance to gather with your people, too. I believe wholeheartedly that true connection is more important now than ever before.

I could talk endlessly about how the cyclone of life with three kids, home obligations, family stuff, work, volunteer tasks and more sucked me into its fierce rotation and forced me to pick and choose priorities over the last six months, but I’m sure you are more than familiar with the strength of that rotation.

What I’ve discovered through it all (and via journaling, soul searching, and therapy — more on that soon) is that writing is one of the things that lights me up. It is one of the things that makes me, as one of my favorite quotes puts it, come alive. I am so excited about picking it back up, and for the new ideas I’ve been building quietly over the first half of this year. And I’m so humbled that you might join me here, that you would spend your precious minutes reading.

On that note, I’m so excited to announce that starting in September, I am going to be dedicating a lot more time to this space, and adding paid options for Hearten.

Beginning in September, weekly essays—and some additional new features!—will be behind a small paywall ($8/month — less than the price of two lattes ;)). Essays will be covering some personal ground, and it feels right to me to create a more intimate group of readers for those posts. In addition, I will be adding a voiceover to all posts for paid subscribers (I know that sometimes it’s easier to listen to something on the go, and other times just comforting to hear someone’s voice instead of staring at a screen), and maybe the thing I’m most excited about is that I will be launching a mini monthly workshop for paid subscribers called Journal with Jen: at the end of each month, I’ll provide prompts for guided journaling and reflection on that specific month, as well as journaling tips and ideas.

So, to recap, here’s what a monthly ($8!) subscription will get you:

• Weekly essays (including deeper dives into topics falling under umbrellas like motherhood, relationships, careers, loss, personal development, and more)

• Once monthly letters (at the beginning of each month) featuring life updates, as well as links to what I’ve been loving that month

• New weekly how-to posts, which will teach something new in a short post each weekend

• Voice recorded posts

• Monthly journaling workshops to include prompts for reflection and tips

Free subscribers will still receive:

• New weekly how-to posts, which will teach something new in a short post each weekend

• Once monthly letters (at the beginning of each month) featuring life updates, as well as links to what I’ve been loving that month

Thank you so much for your support!

There’s a lot to catch up on, and we’ll do that in the weeks ahead, but for now let’s talk about this glorious month and the things we’re looking forward to and loving most. July is one of my favorite months of the year, not just because it’s my birthday month (shout out to my fellow cancers), but because it is finally full-blown summertime.

I wait all year for this: hot weather, sticky watermelon juice dripping down small chins, the sight and sound of fireworks exploding, fireflies twinkling in a darkened sky, car rides with the windows down and the music up and the warm air rushing in. July brings me back to being a barefoot kid, running through the grass with abandon. It feels like time stands still for just a little while. It feels like possibility.

So far this season I’ve been loving: our library card (just finished reading this and this, and came home with a stack of four more books today — I have a chronic case of “my eyes are bigger than my free time to read”), these inexpensive jelly shoes that are shockingly comfy, this face wash which nearly instantly stopped my hormonal breakouts and is extra necessary in sweaty summer months, and wearing these soft, loose plain t-shirts with everything (on sale!).

Usually, I approach the end of school and beginning of summer with both excitement and nerves: will we strike a good balance between busy and relaxed? Will the kids get along well? Will I have any time to myself? Will we make plenty of great memories? This summer, I felt noticeably calmer heading into this season and I realized it’s because the rapid passing of time feels more obvious to me than ever before. My kids are getting older; my oldest will be a teenager this fall. They are all in full-day school now. These two and a half months of unstructured time together are precious and fleeting, and though that realization doesn’t change the fact that there will absolutely still be challenging moments, it does offer a perspective shift that makes the tough moments surmountable and the many wonderful moments even sweeter.

I hope your summer is off to a great start. Thanks for being here!