Youtube Speak Up With Jane

We all know of relationships that have ended because one party claimed the other had changed and was no longer...

Social media made me think back to my childhood and knowing what you don’t want.  As a child, I recall...

Do you ever picture yourself living in a small cottage or apartment somewhere pretty with mild weather, your favorite person...

My little Yorkshire Terrier has been my voiceless conversation partner for most of her fifteen years. With children and husband...

Maybe it is age, but I feel the pressure to have A Perfect Life is almost inescapable—or at least much...

If you had to define the word attitude, would you explain it as a settled state or something flexible?  Most...

Growing up, we had a rather quirky neighbor—and I adored her. If women could be clothes, my mother was the...

I can still hear my mother’s voice, her lovely Scottish accent: Jane, you say you’ll get around to it, but...

An elegant dinner party was the catalyst that caused us to emigrate. For years we talked about leaving Cape Town,...

Covid broke our humanity. Covid crushed our compassion. Our treatment of each other has reached a low point. Possibly true,...

Each night we go to sleep with different thoughts running through our heads. Sometimes, we look back on the day...

These last few years have left many feeling unmoored. Months passed when no one really seemed to know what was...

We have all typed, texted, or said, “enjoy your well-earned rest,” to someone about to take a vacation or start...

With the typical arrogance of youth, in my teens, I assumed most of life’s lessons would be learned by the...

I can’t imagine there is a single adult on this earth who hasn’t at one time or another told themselves...

Christmas is right around the corner, and your To-Do list seems to have taken on a life of its own....

Please tell me I am not the only one. Who else has noticed a trend in people taking every single...

Most people have heard the expression, you win some, you lose some. Of course, it is only trotted out after...

I was barely nine years old when I fell in love with calendars. Not only did they come with postcard-perfect...

I think we can all admit to grabbing our phones in the middle of a conversation in order to look...

I was rushing around my kitchen when I first heard the expression bleating out of the TV.  A simple mindfulness...

When I stepped back from my weekly blog posts, it was with the goal of freeing up some time during...

Each week when I prep my blog, I spend time hunting down images that reflect the topic. However, I dread...

It was the first time I ever felt small, insignificant. I was sixteen and traveling through Europe with my parents. ...

The stores were beckoning, and they drew me in with their tantalizing array of bright shiny objects.  Giddy with excitement,...

Do you find it easy to give other people the benefit of the doubt?  What does it even mean to...

Last week I heard a quote: If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. I...

Yesterday was Earth Day, the 51st celebration of this important event.   And, as in previous years, I wished I could meet...

Over the last ten days, I have begun venturing out into the world. In the last year, I only went...

Over my years as a full-time mom, I spent my fair share of hours in coffee shops. Then, years later,...