The Secret is Out. I'm...
It's Monday. I'm here for you.
The Pick Me Up is a Monday morning newsletter filled with advice, personal stories, and tips to help you get out of bed and jumpstart your week.
Greetings, friend! It’s me, Jen Glantz. I’m writing this to you from a cafe in Times Square.
Lat week’s secret is out. I am 8-months pregnant. More on that below.
Today marks 11-years since I got an airplane with two overstuffed suitcases and moved my entire life to New York City.
I didn’t move here to follow my dreams or any of that cheesy stuff.
I moved because I had to get out of Florida - and living in my parent’s house and working a part-time job as an assistant for a boss worse than Cruella de Vil.
I moved here because I felt like I had to runaway and I’ve stayed here, for so many years, because I don’t have anywhere else I want to run off to.
This year, it hit me. When you live someplace for so long, you watch many different versions of you own life play out on the sidewalks, inside of the same coffee shops, around familiar blocks.
As I sit here, in Times Square, I think about how so many moments of my life have played out on Broadway…the street, not the stage.
How I found love here, heard the worst news and then, years later, the best news of my life here, got my heartbroken…all right here.
I always shake my head when people call this place magic.
It’s not. But it is.
It’s unbelievable what has happened to me here.
It’s unimaginable who I will still become.
Ps. Last week I teased that I had been hiding something BIG from you. Well, I revealed the secret here, shared why I kept it a secret for 8-months here, and started this as a resource for anyone who needs it.
In this issue: Connecting with old friends, the book I’m reading before going to bed, and a lot of little pick-me-ups.
Why you’re getting this: I'm Jen Glantz and this is The Pick-Me-Up newsletter. I've been sending it every Monday, for 8-years, to thousands of awesome humans, just like you. Thank you for letting this email live in in your inbox. It truly makes my heart explode with joy.
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Give Her a Chance
My mom tries to tell me how beautiful it can be to reconnect with old friends.
I try to tell her that it’s not.
But she tries, again and again, at least once a month.
She begs me to reach out to a friend from childhood.
She’s changed. You have more in common these days than you think.
I beg her to remember how this particular friend once spit chewed-up cookie in my hair and told the entire 2nd grade class that I was half alien and half dinosaur. Everyone believed her, until at least the 5th grade.
The next week she asks me to just send a text to an old friend from high-school. She ran into this ex-friend’s mom who mentioned how her daughter really misses me.
I ask her to stop trying to play friend matchmaker.
It’s taken me years to forget about these people. It’s taken me decades to stop replaying how mean they were.
But even though I act like I am going to forever ignore my mom’s advice, It rolls around in my head like a loose marble. It falls into its place in my brain one rainy afternoon as I'm cleaning out my closet.
I find a necklace that an old friend gave me. It was a necklace I used to love. I haven’t spoken to this friend in years. The reason? I don’t really know.
I hear my mom’s voice pop into my head:
Give people another chance, they change, and you do too.
A few weeks later, I find myself meeting this friend for coffee, hugging her hello as If I saw her yesterday. We sat in the diner and rambled for hours.
Tell me everything that's happened to you in the last couple of years, I beg her, as the waitress keeps refilling our bottomless cups of coffee.
I call my mom right after.
You’re sort of right about this friendship thing.
My mom stays hush.
When your daughter is a stubborn fool and she finally admits she’s wrong, the worst thing you can do is rub it in her face. My mom is an expert at knowing that. She lets me carry on.
Sometimes, people no longer fit in your life, but then years later, they do.
Sometimes you don’t fit into their lives either, but then years later, you do.
Friendship is such a strange thing that I am slowly beginning to understand.
When a person needs a break from you, let them take it. Don’t force them to stay.
When you need a break from someone, go ahead, be brave, put the relationship on pause.
But know that there might be a day, years down the road, where you find yourself sipping on hot coffee, asking them 70 questions about their life, wondering if there’s a place for you in it again.
Perhaps there might be. Perhaps there just might be.
Quick Pick Me Ups
Here’s a song I’m loving this week a lot - a lot.
I’m reading this book every single night before bed.
A podcast episode on slowing down - especially as we head into February.
I updated my Amazon store with some new favorites - let me know what you think!
An interesting article about worrying smarter.
Another interesting article I read on what it’s like to be sober and stay sober.
1:1 Coaching: I have no more open spots for January and a few spots for 1:1 coaching that will open in early February. If you ever wanted to work with me as your professional side-kick to help you get a new career, start a side hustle/personal brand, or elevate your business, book a coaching session.
Share: Email someone this newsletter (thank you, dear friend).
I’ll be back next week with a new Monday Pick-Me-Up. Until then, I leave you with this:
Whether or not you realize it, you’ve made so much progress in your life. Who you are today is way different than who you were the last time you stumbled and fell down. Stand up tall today. Exhale. For once, my sweet friend, remember how far you’ve come.
Congratulations to you and Adam!!! I know it can be scary but you and Adam are a great team. Lean on each other. Don't pressure yourself to be supermom. Babies are not fragile and they're definitely not "tabula rasa" beings. Enjoy the experience!!