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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

Water Dreams

From my earliest days, I have had a connection to the water. One of my first memories is bouncing around in my dad’s truck on a canal bank outside of Firebaugh and stopping every so often to throw dirt clods into the canal. Like osmosis, the stories of the life giving medium that brought forth […]
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Wendy Jones

Just Float

Without giving too much information, I will confess that the word "calm" is in a lot of my passwords, as a reminder for the most part.  While sitting watching one of my kids play volleyball, I have been called the "zen mom" more than once, a compliment that I am proud of but don't always feel […]
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Wendy Jones

My Happiness Contract

Today I opened up a fortune cookie and it read, " Don't pursue happiness - create it.”.  Seeing it spelled out so simply made me realize that although I have entered into a contract with myself mentally, it is time to get it down in writing. It seems in general, the older we get, the more […]
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Wendy Jones

Wisdom Works Both Ways

One of the first times I experienced the feeling of knowing that being a mom is the best experience anyone can ever have was when the nurse took a crying, freshly bathed and swaddled, not so little 9lb 12oz baby boy and laid him on my chest. Instantly, he stopped crying. I had never experienced […]
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A New Normal

So many things on my mind these days, which is pretty normal. The reminder that we are standing on the edge of regular life happened for me this morning. I’d been up since 5:30, my favorite time of day is when the sun is just over the horizon.  Anyone who knows me understands that it’s […]
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Love is 100%

It has been said that we are only as happy as our least happy child, and there is some truth to that.  Nothing prepares us for the love and devotion most of us feel when we become parents.  As years go by, we have hopes and dreams for them, hopefully we learn to manage that […]
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Finding Calm

Life is moving pretty fast these days…all four of them are in full swing, we’ve had first days of school, a concussion, volleyball tryouts, football games, videos to make, and as I try to do these days…zen out and try to find the calm.     Eeerily, when I think of moments of calm in […]
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My People

As an introvert, I like to hang out by myself...a lot. But the flip side of that coin is that I love human connection. I’m not one for small talk, I prefer deep conversation, or else silence between two people can be so calming and easy. Growing up, I was never in the “popular crowd”, […]
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The Wisdom in The Lyrics

I love singers and songwriters because their lyrics drift through my life on a daily basis. Music has a profound impact on our brain. It’s Prom, graduation AND birthday season in my house. My youngest will be 12 in less than two weeks and my oldest graduates from high school in less than a month. […]
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Faith, Presence & Solitude

Overwhelm: (v.) To bury or drown beneath a huge mass. I looked up this definition because it’s a feeling I have been experiencing a lot this week and wanted to see what Webster had to say about it, and it ended up hitting pretty close to home. To drown, a sight and experience that I […]
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