My Birthday Journaling Ritual

Today is my birthday, my own personal New Year. And tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, so it’s a day of new beginnings indeed.

But turning 43 is weird. It’s not a milestone age like 30, 40, or 50.

I can’t all it my Jackie Robinson year like last year or my Obama year like next year.

Turning 43 doesn’t feel special. It just feels old.

But then I remind myself that as a cancer survivor, each birthday is a milestone. And aging is a gift.

My birthday journaling rituals always help shift my perspective.

Here are the 3 things I journal about each birthday…

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The Unexpected Way That Journaling Helps My Marriage

Journaling is one of the best things that I do for my marriage. But perhaps not in the way you think.

Yes, my husband and I have a couple’s journal. We even did a podcast episode about couple’s journaling. I think a couple’s journal is a great way to set expectations and goals. You could even make a couple’s bucket list.

But to be honest, we’re not very consistent with it. That couple’s journal isn’t the secret sauce. The magic happens in the journals that are mine and mine alone.

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Currently: Black History Month Edition

“Let Black women be unapologetic. Expressive. Brave. Soft.” This shirt, created by a Black designer, is available at Target as part of this year’s Black History Month Collection.

It’s time for another edition of Currently!

With this feature, I share with you what I’m currently into hoping that you’ll find something that inspires you too. Since it’s February, I want to do a special Black History Month edition.  

So let’s review what I’m currently watching, reading, writing, planning and loving.

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Fresh Start February: 5 Ways to Begin Again

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Do you need this month to be Fresh Start February?

So often we enter the new year full of hopes and dreams, fueled by our goals and plans. We try to “hit the ground running” only to trip and fall flat on our faces.

If that sounds like you this year, give yourself some grace. Get up (or let someone help you up) and give yourself permission to start again. Give yourself permission to start slow. You don’t have to hit the ground running. Walking is just fine.

February is my birthday month, so it always feels like a fresh start for me. It’s like my own personal New Year. But you deserve a Fresh Start February too. Here’s how to give yourself the new beginning you need.

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I’m Autistic and Writing Helped Me Find My Voice

Woman smiling, posing outside near flowers
Through writing, Lara Boyle found confidence and community.

Editor’s Note: See Jane Write now publishes articles and personal essays by writers who identify as women, non-binary folks, and our allies. Learn more here.

By Lara Boyle

“Why can’t you let her speak for herself?”

That’s what family members and friends would ask my mom. I’d be at the dinner table in a crowded restaurant or even in our living room when my throat would close up. I opened my mouth to speak, but all the words I needed were gone. Under the weight of everybody’s eyes, I shrunk into my seat, unable to do more than clear my throat. I had no issues learning how to talk. I could ramble on and on for hours about horses, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter or my favorite cartoon show, Alex Hirch’s Gravity Falls on Disney. Yet, somehow I still struggled to say what I thought, to find the right words. I wouldn’t find out until I was eighteen years old that this struggle to speak was because I have a type of Autism Spectrum Disorder commonly known as Asperger’s Syndrome. My voice seemed to disappear until I found it scribbled out in jet-black ink on paper.

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