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The Optimists Journal

Heartfelt Anecdotes and Practical Resources to Help You Create Wellness for Life.

Hi! I’m Wendy, mother of four, writer, and founder of Be Better Media. I am passionate about deep health, sustainable high performance, and human connection. As a lifelong learner, I believe that our own self-awareness is the greatest gift we can give to the next generation. This is my inspiration not to be perfect but to Be Better for myself and for them, every day. I know that it takes courage to reflect and when we are ready, share our stories so that real human connection is possible. This is what I set out to create with my blog, ‘The Optimists Journal’; my podcast, ‘What I Meant to Say’, and the interviews, videos, and other content created and presented by Be Better Media. In my downtime, you’ll find me hanging out with my kids and cats, going to yoga, and playing volleyball on the beach.

I believe that self awareness is the greatest gift we can give to the next generation.

How It All Started

I remember sitting on a patio in 2016, knowing I was at the edge of an impending divorce and feeling my life fall apart at the seams.

My question at the time was "How did I get here?" and "How can I help my kids get through this?" I had always been a journaler, but I started my blog, The Optimists Journal to give my kids a place to go later in life to understand their Mom's thoughts and heart through the myriad of situations that life brings our way.

In so many ways, my blog grew to be my podcast 'What I Meant to Say' because as I released my words to the world, I stepped into a place where for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid to be seen. It was liberating.

So, I wanted to create space for others to have that same experience. If there is one thing I hope comes from the stories we share on 'What I Meant To Say', it is that it becomes a place of connection and growth that we can all experience when we simply take the time to listen.

Check out the podcast!
Wendy Jones

The Beauty of Not Knowing

It just so happens this year that we get to celebrate Matthew’s birthday and Mothers Day on the same weekend. In honesty, birthdays bring up a certain nostalgia and sadness that I have to acknowledge, but the cool thing is, as quickly as I have learned to recognize that feeling and admit it’s there, it […]
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Wendy Jones

The Rising Tide

Transitions can be hard.  As humans we don’t always like to change, and yet it’s the only inevitable thing in life.  This week I was fortunate to be able to interview two people in my life that I have spent a great deal of time with over the last few years who have been both […]
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Wendy Jones

Out of the Shadows

“How long have you been standing in the shadows? My whole life.” - Lucas Beineke - The Addams Family  Broadway - always exposing universal truths in the most entertaining ways. Before COVID hit, Kate and I had tickets to Jagged Little Pill in New York, we were going to go before we hit the Atlanta […]
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Wendy Jones

CULTIVATE CALM

It’s become my mantra to back up my life philosophy and I love the imagery it brings to my mind in just two words.
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Happy Memorial Day!

Have you ever just relaxed and let life happen? Think about it.  We set goals, make lists, check our calendar and work so hard to make life happen while our shoulders get tighter, expectations rise, and sense of chasing pushes us closer to burnout.  While I have respect for ambition, discipline, and drive, the more […]
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A Day In The Life

Most days this time of year I click the light on in the morning and it’s usually still dark outside. I have thoughts and words running through my head and they wake me up, even though I’m not sure exactly how they will take shape when I start writing. Writing for me is like giving […]
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Cocooning

Whether it’s an ending or a beginning is all a matter of perspective.  Ironically, the first time I had this realization wasn’t after my divorce, it was as Lauren was graduating from high school.  There were a lot of tears, it was the first of my four high school graduation milestones, now I’m two down […]
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Time Flies but Some Things Never Change

Well, It’s been a few weeks…I’ve had to figure out what to do with this pain.  I found out I have a 5mm herniated disc on my L4/L5 vertabrae, it’s the most physical pain I have ever felt, including four child births and three foot/ankle surgeries, so it’s taken me more than a minute to […]
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What Pain Insists...

A picture popped up on my phone from Facebook this morning, one of those “five years ago today” memories.  It was the year I skipped 6 man and drove up the coast with the kids.  I wasn’t in the mood to play that year, staring down a divorce I didn’t want, but, looking back now, […]
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The Real Story

The Olympics have me deeper into TV and news than usual.  As always, there is so much to cheer for, be proud of, and inspire us for whatever our game of life looks like, and the one thing I know for sure is that we never know the whole story of the journey that put […]
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