Falling In Love, Again & 2 Other Things I Want To Tell You
10 stars, darkrooms and DSWL 2024 planners
It’s official! I fell in love with my job as a real estate agent this weekend. I’m not entirely sure I can confirm that moment was something I was waiting for. But now I know it was. This weekend a lot of the possibilities that drew me to this career clicked into place as I showed a mom and her kiddos five potential future homes. Two of her three kids were able to come along for what I like to call the showing tour (this is not an industry term, this is a Jenna term lol). While at the first home I handed each of the kids a packet. The packets are a simple tool I designed to help kids feel like they are part of the decision making process. Asking them what they liked about each home and how many stars they’d give it out of 10.
When we approached the second house the son pulled his packet out, held it up high and declared “Half of a star for the exterior of the home!” And colored it in with his red crayon. Watching them both run around the homes — exploring and evaluating reminded me of my love for spaces — for creating them with your own unique energies and perspectives.
While standing in the driveway of the last home the daughter came up to me and said “Thank you so much for showing us all of the homes, I can’t wait to tell my teacher about today and share my report!” A day like this was what I needed to show me all that’s possible within this work. I love the hunt…getting to learn what a family likes…watching them all light up as they walk into a home they love.
The number system can really help us put how we feel about a place into something tangible. It can make the indescribable home feeling we are searching for, a little more describable. It can help us make decisions. It can help us know when something isn’t even worthy of a number. And it speaks volumes when we would go beyond 10 stars if we could. I love that I got to try this approach out for the first time this weekend and can’t wait to keep using these sheets with future families I’ll be working with.
I have a shared digital note with two of my best friends where we keep little lists of what we’re currently manifesting. About a month ago I listed “celebrate fall” not knowing exactly what that meant. The intention of just knowing I wanted to celebrate my favorite season after two years of being kind of numb to it, was enough to make me do things differently. I visited an orchard with my momma, sipped PSL lattes while driving through the country with Taj, I continued my new tradition of making an apple pie from scratch and I’ve been taking daily walks in my neighborhood to watch the leaves rain down and carpet the ground in colorful gradients. I’d say my intention has been manifesting quite beautifully.
This past week I kicked it into an even higher gear when I was invited to this new photo sharing app, Lapse. I began documenting the change and capturing my walks in a different way. The fun thing about the app is that you snap a photo and then it goes into the “darkroom” to be developed. You can’t look at it right away so it’s an awesome way to stay in the moment without getting sucked into taking a million of pictures you’ll never look at again. Later, the app pings you and tells you your snaps are developed! It’s giving my brain so much dopamine. The anticipation. The little treat of revealing. The nostalgia of getting a roll of film developed. I love the concept of sharing images without the pressure to write a caption. It can just be what you think is beautiful right now.
And last but not least, I’m excited to share that I’m working on the Dear Self With Love 2024 planners! I didn’t apply for any big fairs this year because I just can’t handle that level of stimuli right now, but I’m currently getting myself set up on Etsy and will be opening up the digital doors for orders on Small Business Saturday in November (11/25/2023)!
I’m collecting 2023 experiences from the incredible folks who took a chance on this planner in its first year! If you’ve been using the planner this past year can you help me by taking five minutes to share your experience and fill out the DSWL 2023 Questionnaire?
With Love,
Jenna
Now it’s your turn to tell me something!
The worksheets were a good reminder that we can use this sort of number rating system in so many areas of our life — can you think of something you’d like to use it for?
What’s the last time you waited for film to develop? What do you remember about the anticipation of waiting?
Are you a planner person? How do you keep all of the commitments, dates and deadlines organized in that beautiful mind of yours?
