Not Just Another Jen was mainly created out of two long standing ideas. First, I’m a Jennifer (well actually, I like Jen). Over all, being a Jennifer is like a particular persona or demographic. I think of it like being a brand, like The Gap (the Canadian equivalent is Roots). I feel like it has it’s own generic personality. You can dress it up or go casual, and they are everywhere. Where & when I grew up there was a Jennifer in every grade and at least two in every class. Just think about the Jennifers in your life (you know you have at least one) or the Jennifers in public life (my favorite>Jennifer Jason Leigh, but there’s also Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Love Hewitt).
Being a Jennifer is a blessing and a curse. It’s also like a huge sea of strange family. When I meet another Jennifer I always ask her what her middle name is. Do you know how many other Jennifer Lynn’s I have met? At least a dozen over the years…it’s very strange. Sometimes, my doom sets in…is being a Jennifer like being a Seven of Nine? (And yes, it’s very revealing to admit that you watched Star Trek TNG) But I’m a Jen and we’re a whole other class unto ourselves. And that’s what this blog will be about – my life as a Jen…well, I’m not just another Jen.
I’m a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend and a woman who works full time. So forgive me if I don’t write everyday. I’m also getting older, which is a weird trip. And I’m trying to defy my body’s gravity and stay sane, which I’m sure there will be plenty of posts about those topics too.
But before I end this first post I should acknowledge someone who is the source of my second motivation for this blog. There’s a woman that I’ve admired for years and something she said about a decade ago, really stuck with me all this time. A while back, I was working in the leadership development world and she was a participant in the women’s leadership program that I was a part of. She was maybe 26 at the time and during the program deeply solidified that as a writer, she had something important to say to the world and her voice was needed. All I could think of sitting in the back of the room was wow, how great it must be to have that feeling. Well, thank you Cheryl for your inspiration, because now I finally feel like I have something to say.
I hope you enjoy the posts and the occasional pictures. Drop me a line from time to time. Or as they say in the South, “y’all come back now ya hear!”
