Jen Chenette, LCSW

01/01/2025

"Every one of us is called upon, probably many times, to start a new life.

A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job . . . and onward full tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore.

To be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another - that is surely the basic instinct . . .
crying out: high tide!

Time to move out into the glorious debris.

Time to take this life for what it is."

~ Barbara Kingsolver

Embrace your glorious debris and everything that makes you who you are . . .

Happy 2025!

Licensed Clinical Social Worker for over 27 years

06/05/2024

“You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate.”

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

05/14/2024

“Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better, it’s about befriending who we are.”

~ Pema Chödrön

04/24/2024

You can’t calm the storm . . . so stop trying.
What you can do is calm yourself.
The storm will pass.

~ Timber Hawkeye

04/03/2024

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”

~ Deepak Chopra

03/27/2024

“Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt, crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day.
Begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

That quote was written a VERY long time ago - but it still applies!

😊

03/19/2024

“Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen - that stillness becomes a radiance.”

~ Morgan Freeman

03/06/2024

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness. It’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”

~ Brené Brown

Like this building - being taken over by a foggy night.

Look up.
Look down.
Look all around.

02/22/2024

“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax.”

~ Bryant McGill

I know “relaxing” is easier said than done.

But you could start a small mindfulness practice each day.

Even just 5 minutes.

It can make a world of difference to practice slowing down and quieting our active brains.

01/30/2024

“Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective.”

~ Doe Zantamata

We humans love to go go go.

Nonstop activity.

Even if it’s just scrolling on our phones.

You’re doing it right now, aren’t you? 😏

Learn to build in pockets of peace and quiet.

See how it feels . . .

01/08/2024

“You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.”

~ Louise Erdrich

12/31/2023

“You can get excited about the future.
The past won’t mind.”

~ Hillary DePiano
(playwright and author)

2024 is upon us.

Don’t go crazy setting goals - goals are good - but it’s what we do day in and day out that matters.

Welcome each morning as it comes - and in the evening, think about what you are grateful for about that particular day.

Tonight I am grateful for the sunset in Galveston.

Looking to the east - it was cotton candy skies.
Looking to the west - it was fire.