Welcome to For the Love with Jen Hatmaker

Summary

Podcast Summary: Becoming You with Suzy Welch – Featuring "For the Love" with Jen Hatmaker

Episode Date: July 27, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this special bonus crossover, Suzy Welch introduces an episode from Jen Hatmaker’s “For the Love” podcast—a solo dispatch recorded from Jen’s annual “Me Camp.” The episode centers on the challenges of living a “big life,” the necessity and vulnerability of asking for help, and the practice of choosing rest and joy, even amidst personal upheaval. Suzy’s intro frames Jen as a candid, irreverent, and endlessly “listenable” voice, particularly on themes of faith, authenticity, and grace.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Suzy Welch’s Introduction and Endorsement of Jen Hatmaker (02:04–05:21)

• Admiration for Jen: Suzy shares her long-standing appreciation for Jen Hatmaker’s honest, humorous, and evolving approach to faith and life.
• Jen’s Background: Daughter of a Baptist pastor, once a prominent evangelical, candid about the complexities and hardships of marriage and motherhood, and gracious about the unraveling of her marriage.
• Relevant Overlapping Themes: Both Suzy and Jen emphasize not postponing joy and choosing grace over judgment.
• Suzy’s Quote: “The cure for judgment is curiosity. But she says it better by saying it’s grace. Like, why would we ever judge anybody when we don’t want to be judged ourselves?” (04:13)

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2. Jen Hatmaker’s “Me Camp” Reflections (05:21–11:32)

• The Me Camp Tradition: Jen has taken a solo trip each July for the past six years as a restorative ritual—this year’s “Me Camp” is in a tiny cottage in Orillia, Ontario.
• Background of Me Camp: Originated after her marriage ended in 2020. The first Me Camp (2021) was “bruised” and healing, and this year has “sister energy” due to another challenging season.

Notable Quote:

“I built a big life. I built it with the spouse. We went in together on the big life. And that meant a big family. Five kids is no joke.”
— Jen Hatmaker (09:54)

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3. Carrying the Weight of a “Big Life” Alone (11:32–17:03)

• Two-Person Life, One-Person Band: Jen reflects emotionally on building everything (home, family, career, community) with a partner — only to now manage it all solo.
• Recent Hardship: This year is particularly heavy: major abdominal surgery (hysterectomy), her partner going through cancer, and the compounding responsibilities of singlehandedly steering the “big life.”

Notable Quote:

“I built a two-person life that I run by myself now. Sorry. It’s making me feel emotional. I am so grateful for everything...but it is so much, it is so much for one person.”
— Jen Hatmaker (12:29)

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4. Reluctance and Necessity of Asking for Help (17:03–24:39)

• Personality Struggle: Jen candidly explores why asking for help is so hard—pride, fear of disappointing or burdening others, and a “false sense of self-sufficiency.”
• Consequences of Not Asking: “I can’t do it all. I drop things, I miss things, and then I’m running myself into the ground.”
• Friends and Family’s Intervention: Jen’s support system insisted she still go to Me Camp, recognizing her need for restoration.
• The Relief of Letting Go: Parents and loved ones stepping in to handle projects, kids, household—described as both humbling and liberating.

Notable Moments:

• “That is not my first instinct. It just isn’t. I am the one that people ask for help. I am the emergency call. I am the fixer and the closer… I am not good at asking for help.” (14:06)

• “My parents sent me pictures yesterday...they are at my house, finishing projects… managing home and a couple of kids...just a kid. I called on my parents and they showed up for me.” (23:08)

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5. Codependence & the Myth of Indispensability (24:39–31:19)

• Letting Others Row the Boat: Jen admits that believing only she can solve problems is “lingering codependence”—it deprives others of responsibility and herself of necessary support.
• Recovery and Accepting Help: Only when physically incapacitated post-surgery was she “forced” to enlist support. The outcome: others stepped in with “such competency.”
• Gaining Perspective: The “one-woman show” is unsustainable and an illusion—ten people rowing is better than one.

Notable Quote:

“Codependency keeps people in a perpetual state of, to some degree, infantilization, because they do not have to show up and do their own work.”
— Jen Hatmaker (31:01)

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6. Accepting Rest and Choosing Joy, Despite Imperfect Circumstances (31:19–39:50)

• From Overwhelm to Exhaling: The first days at the cottage were about recovery, not adventure. Only on day five did her “central nervous system” begin to reset.
• Permission to Rest: Jen encourages listeners to “treat rest like it’s sacred” and choose joy even “through gritted teeth.”
• Gratitude and Reality: Acknowledges the privilege of being able to escape to a restorative place; underscores that “joy is still available” even when “conditions are not ideal.”
• Metaphor of the Lake Chair: Sometimes, she says, you have to “choose the lake chair anyway”—find small spaces for rest and joy even when life’s problems are unresolved.

Notable Quotes:

• “Sometimes we choose the lake chair anyway. And girls, that’s where you’ll find me. I’m not on a lot of adventures...I am cooking and I’m spending a lot of time out there on my deck overlooking this beautiful little lake.” (36:06)

• “Joy is still available, hope is still available. We can still smile, we can still rest, we can onboard the other people in our lives who love us…” (38:49)

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7. Takeaways: The Sacred Yes & Community (39:50–41:19)

• The Sacred Yes: Inside her Substack community, the “Awake Collective,” Jen explores this concept—giving a “yes” to rest, help, and joy.
• Invitation to Listeners: Encourages sharing how others might “choose the lake chair anyway”—even for a day or an afternoon. It doesn’t have to be grand.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “I built a two-person life that I run by myself now...I am so grateful...but it is so much for one person.”
  — Jen Hatmaker (12:29)

• “I am not good at asking for help. This is not a flex, by the way...I am not proud of that.”
  — Jen Hatmaker (14:06)

• “Codependency keeps people in a perpetual state of, to some degree, infantilization, because they do not have to show up and do their own work.”
  — Jen Hatmaker (31:01)

• “Sometimes we choose the lake chair anyway...even if you are thinking, ‘you don’t know what I am going through,’ I do. Life is always lifeing like that. And so sometimes we choose the lake chair anyway.”
  — Jen Hatmaker (36:06)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:04–05:21]: Suzy’s intro & themes of grace, judgment, and joy
• [05:21–11:32]: Jen introduces Me Camp and its origins
• [11:32–17:03]: Managing a two-person life solo; the emotional toll
• [17:03–24:39]: The struggle and necessity of asking for help
• [24:39–31:19]: Codependence & the myth of being indispensable
• [31:19–39:50]: Shifting from overwhelm; rest, recovery, & “choosing joy anyway”
• [39:50–41:19]: “The Sacred Yes” and community takeaway

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Overall Tone & Style

Jen’s language is warm, self-deprecating, often humorous, and emotionally honest—speaking “long form” directly to her audience as friends. The mood is both vulnerable (sharing doubts, physical hardship, and feelings of being overwhelmed) and inspiring (modeling gratitude, self-compassion, and courage to ask for help).

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For Listeners Who Haven't Tuned In

This episode is an invitation to embrace imperfection, ask for help, and find moments of rest and joy amidst messiness. If you relate to carrying “a big life”—families, careers, responsibilities—Jen’s candor and wisdom will resonate, offering both companionship and permission to “choose the lake chair anyway.”

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Further Engagement

• “I hope that you choose that. And I’d love to hear it—how you’re going to choose the lake chair anyway.”
  — Jen Hatmaker (39:13)
• Learn more about “The Sacred Yes” at Jen’s Substack, the “Awake Collective”
• Follow “For the Love with Jen Hatmaker” for the full series on Joy in Midlife

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Transcript

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[Susie]

n s co hey everybody, it's Susie and I'm here because today's episode that you've clicked into. Here's a special bonus episode for you. I'm sharing an extra episode this week from a podcaster and from a human being who I just really admire. And you already know who she is. It's Jen Hatmaker and it's from her show, which is called for the Love. I can't remember how long ago it was that I happened upon Jen Hatmaker, and I just, like, fell in love with her. It's probably 20 something years. She's just a. She's a really special person. I think I probably found her all those many years ago because many years ago she was very prominent in the evangelical Christian space. And I'm a faithful person. And I found her and I thought, whoa, this is a person who's talking about how complicated it is to be a Christian in today's world. And she did it with, like, so much human humor and candor. And I just kept on listening to her. So she's the daughter of a Baptist pastor, and there's so many facets to her. She's married for a long time, actually 20 something years. She had five kids. And she was super candid about the messiness and complexity and guilt and joys of motherhood. And then her marriage fell apart. And she handled that with all sorts of incredible grace and insight and forgiveness. And it was hard because she sort of had held up her marriage as, like, you know, as an example, and then it fell apart. As it happens, it happens. It's real life. And she really took that on, and so she just kept on going. She's written beautiful memoir called Awake, which I highly recommend. And I've loved watching her faith evolve and her talking really candidly about it. But in this episode, she's talking about not her faith, but this concept of joy, which is something that on Becoming youg, we talk about joy, we about eudaimonia, which is the value of not postponing joy. And so we have overlap there. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. I think Jen is just infinitely listenable to, and I am just such an admirer of her. One of the themes that she has that I love the most. Love it. Is this idea of grace over judgment. And I've said many times that the cure for judgment is curiosity. But she says it better by saying it's grace. Like, why would we ever judge anybody when we don't want to be judged ourselves? And yet we do. I do it because I'm a flawed human being. I try to get better at it every day. But every single person that we see is, you know, they're fighting their own battle and they have their own values. And if they're not hurting anybody, why shouldn't they be able to live their values just like we are living ours? And so I love her idea, her concept, and her clarion call for grace over judgment. I know you're gonna love this episode if you're meeting Jen for the first time. I'm really psyched that I'm the person who's introducing you to her and her show for the Love. So listen, and I think you're gonna love it. I think you're gonna love Jen because she's so interesting and lovable. And while you're listening, please find and follow for the Love with Jen Hatmaker wherever you listen to your podcast. And here we go,

[Jen Hatmaker]

Everybody. Hello. Welcome to the for the Love podcast. I am your delighted host, Jen Hatmaker, but I am coming to you today from Canada, our beloved neighbors to the north. This is a special episode of the show as we're having a fun time experimenting with format. And it's. We're. This is our show, so we could do whatever we want. We have, like, all the flexibility in the world. And one thing that I enjoy doing, and evidently you enjoy hearing based on your feedback and your downloads, are the occasional solo episode. And I love that because I don't often just get to just speak to you directly in long form. So for me, it also feels special to connect with you like this. And this is the perfect episode to do it. I have done a version of this episode for the last, I guess, five summers, and it is coming to you from me Camp now. I mean, honestly, like, you have to be so far out of my ecosystem to not have heard about me Camp thus far. In fact, if. If that's a mystery to you, if you're new here, first of all, welcome. Love it. We love new listeners, we love new friends. Last week's episode, I think it was last week's episode is all about me Camp and it includes its origin story, why I kept it up, where I've been and where I am this year. So just to sum it up quickly, my me, this is my sixth Me camp, which is a July solo trip every year. And it's my first international trip. I am in a little lake town called Orillia. It's in Ontario, about an hour north of Toronto. And I am in a little. And I mean a little. This is it. If you're watching this on YouTube, you. I am. I am in a little cottage. In fact, this whole area, this whole section is called cottage country. Could you die over that? And I'm right on the lake. Like I am. Like I am. It's right there. I am surrounded by water. I have floor to ceiling windows. And this is the perfect location for me this year. I want to talk to you a little bit about how me camp 2026 is a little bit different from her predecessors. My first me camp was in July of 2021, and I've gone every year since, but I did not arrive to this me camp like years past. Although I suppose 2021 could. Could count as its sister energy if, if, you know, I lost my marriage. In the summer of 2020, I lost my marriage. And in July 2021, I took my first me camp. So I showed up to Bar Harbor, Maine, pretty bruised that year. I was hitting the one year mark. One of my kids and I had really just collapsed. Collapsed emotionally and physically. And we were kind of on life support. Maine was like a last ditch effort to pull us up from the bottom of the ocean, and it did. So I guess in that regard, this year has some similar energy to the first. I, I really considered not coming this year, and if you know how I feel about ME camp, that is really saying something. So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about life right now and sort of the idea that got me out the door in Texas and hauled my ass all the way up here to Canada. Regardless, The big umbrella maybe over this year is. Oh, boy. I haven't really talked this out much, so I'm talking it out with you. Nothing like processing on a big podcast where everyone's listening to my ideas that haven't been fully formed. But. I built a big life. I have a big. I built a big life. I built it with a. With the spouse. We, we went in together on the big life. And that meant a big family. Five kids is no joke. And they are 20 to 28 right now. I was just. Who was I just talking to? A friend of mine from afar. Oh, yeah. And she said, how are the kids? And I was like, Listen, I have five kids in their 20s. At no point are we at five for five. Never. At no point could I go. All five of them are just thriving. Like, we're just clicking along. It's just too many. It's a numbers game again. Big life, big family.

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And.

[Jen Hatmaker]

And that also looks like a big job. I have a big job and I have a lot of moving parts and a lot of work and a lot to do and a lot to manage and steward. I have a big property. I live on an acre and I have an old house. I have a 1908 farmhouse, and something is never going right with it. And then I have like a big circle of friends and chosen Family. And again, I built everything that I just described to you with a partner, everything. Bought the house together, had the, Built the family together, built the friend crew together, this sort of big life. And the truth is, is that now I still have that huge life, all of it. Kids are all still there, live in the same house and property. I have even more of a career than I had then, that has grown. And I have this big community of chosen family and now I manage it by myself. So I built a two person life that I run by myself now. Sorry. It's making me feel emotional. I am so grateful for everything. I'm. I love. I mean, come on. Everything I just said was something beautiful and wanted and chosen and created and crafted, desired. But it is so much, it is so much for one person. And this year, 2026, I have felt the weight of it. Some of this I'll get into the weeds with you on, some of it I won't because some of it's just private. But I have managed and been the troubleshooter, the point person, the heavy lifter, the anchor, the decider of so much in the last few months by myself. And some of it is absolutely consequential, like. Consequent huge, huge, huge, huge things. And it outpaced me. It just outpaced me. I, as you know, probably I had a major surgery two weeks ago today, major abdominal surgery. I had a hysterectomy and other stuff, other lady stuff all at once. And if anybody's ever had that, which I know that you have because you've been telling me online, it is, it's. The recovery is so hard and my body is so down and I mean, it's on the mend. It's on the mend, but I mean, this is not, it's not a two week recovery. So I'm also physically compromised. I'm like, I'm physically compromised emotionally. I'm, I'm, I'm not just at capacity, I'm beyond it. And so I thought, I can't go this year. I can't go. I'm like, I'm the center spoke of the wheel right now in my family, as a parent particularly. And I just can't do it. And all these swirling things, not even half of them have landed. They're just all in the air. I have a thousand things in the air. And it would have made sense, it did make sense for me to go. This is a, I can't go this year. I'm just gonna have to stay home and problem solve And. And so I was telling my friends a few weeks ago, I'm like, I just keep hearing this refrain over and over and over and over in my head, and it's really short, and it keeps saying, jen, ask for help. Ask for help. Okay, I will just tell you that is not my first instinct. It just isn't. Um. I am the one that people ask for help. You know, I know a bunch of you are. You're the me in your life. I'm. I'm the one that gets asked. I am the one. I'm the emergency call. I am the. I'm the fixer and I'm the closer, and I'm. I just. I'm not good at asking for help. This is not a flex, by the way, just in case you're thinking that. I think that. I know it. I know it's not. I. I am not proud of that. I. That means when I don't ask for help in the way that I need

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it,

[Jen Hatmaker]

that I. I can't do it all. I. I drop things, I miss things, and then I am. I'm running my bot. I'm running myself into the ground trying to. I was texting my girlfriends yesterday that really, just. Yesterday. This is my. I've really only been here five days. Really. Yesterday is the first day my central nervous system did not feel completely triggered. I. I feel like I smiled my first big smile yesterday. I don't know. And so I. What I'm not suggesting is, hey, I'm awesome. I do everything. I know that that's not true. It. It's not just me who struggles when I don't ask for help. For example, right now, I am recording this show, and I was supposed to have done a recording with a guest before this. I just completely, like. It's like my. I just. I'm like, mentally just shut down on where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to do and knocking out my things and what I could have done. What I could have done is ask my assistant, like, hey, at me camp, I'm just so foggy and so, hey, maybe could. Would you mind sending me a text the day before when I have some ordinary thing on the work calendar could have done that. I know that. I know me. Instead, I just didn't. Nothing. Nothing. Put no scaffolding around me at all. Just. And so I. I was. I missed that. We're having to reschedule it. And so what I'm saying is it's not a. It's not a flex. And it's not some sort of strength that I'm suggesting, but asking for help was really hard for me. I feel embarrassed by it. I can't explain this exactly, and I think this is a personality glitch largely. But I. It makes me feel, when I ask for help, that I am disappointing people. That is my first feeling. And it lingers. I. I get this sense, like, what a letdown. Like, why can't you just do your job? Why can't you just manage the thing? Why can't you just knock that out? Like everybody else is busy too. It's not as if. It's not as if the people in my life, my. My work, family, my family, family, my chosen family, everybody has shit to do. And so when I feel like I asked somebody to help me on something that's on my side of the street, it's a burden and it's disappointing. So instead, look what happened. I missed an entire interview today. Talk about disappointing. That's way more disappointing. And so I. When my, when my people started hearing me be weird about me camp this year and they're like, no, no, no, no, no, you need to go this year. Like, sometimes me camp is nothing but joy. It is the full top half of the class. I mean, I get there, like, world, I'm here. Like, let's go. Like, where's my first field trip? Who's my first friend? What's my first adventure? I would say that has been how the last four years, four Julys have been. This is not that energy. I did not bring that energy here. I got here by the skin of my teeth.

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Buyer's remorse.

[Jen Hatmaker]

Buy a new car.

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I'll be moving in.

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[Jen Hatmaker]

So there's no.

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I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it.

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[Jen Hatmaker]

I got here a week and a half after surgery. I had to wear an abdominal band. I had to sit on a donut pillow. I had to take two different kinds of pain meds just to get here. And then when I got here, it had worn my body out so much. My poor healing body. I just kind of dropped everything. I barely looked at anything and I slept for 14 hours. So I didn't bring the here I am world energy this year. And so my family just started saying no, no, no, this feels like. And of course they know everything that's going on. This feels like the year to go. This feels like maybe this is going to be slightly reminiscent of, of Me Camp 2021 where it was truly restorative where you kind of limped in and soared out. And I thought well that actually feels right, that actually feels true. And so I asked for help. That's. That's the longest possible way, the longest possible story I could ever tell to say that I reached out for help. My parents sent me pictures yesterday again. I've been here since July. I've been here for five days. They're at my house. They are finishing projects that were left in a blaze of undone ness. They are managing home and a couple of kids. I, I can't explain like I wanna, I. I just can't explain what it has, how that has felt to me. Like I'm in my parents, you guys, they're 75 and 79 and just. I just kind of still felt like I'm just in this scenario. Like just a kid. I'm their kid. I called on my parents and they showed up for me and so I'm so grateful for them for managing some things that I just couldn't do. I could not finish them. I could not get them done. I could not get them managed. I could not get them handled. I've never come to me camp so half assed in my life. Normally I like to leave pristine perfection. I mean every I dotted, every T crossed, everything is immaculate. There is not a single dangling participle. Not participle. What was that called?

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Dangling.

[Jen Hatmaker]

I forgot what that term was with Al Gore. Anyways, I just. That wasn't the share and so I called in help and it's relieved me so much just knowing that the short list of things just my parents have knocked out while I am here. And so I'm so grateful and I just. I'm thinking about you too. I'm thinking about all of us who struggle to ask for help. And again, this is no flex. It's not like, hey, we don't ask for help because we're awesome and we just can handle everything, and we're strong and we're independent. That is just not true. And that's not how it feels, and that's not how it works. I think those of us who struggle to ask for help have some, like, brutal combination of pride, the bad kind, and a false sense of self sufficiency. And this is somehow wrapped up in how people think of us. I'm describing myself right now, but it's got to apply to some of you. How do people think of us? Do they think of us as. Do they think of me as needy? Do they think of me as irresponsible? I'm just giving you right now the thoughts in my brain. Do they think of me as. She can't handle it. Do they think of me as week? Because, like, I mean, I can tell you this. In my life, with a couple of exceptions right now, of everything I've been on my plate, if I just picked up most of them individually, one at a time, you would look at that and go, okay, that's not that big of a deal. Or that's not that hard. Or that only takes such and such amount of effort, energy, and hours. And you would carry that over the finish line. And that's so largely true to some degree. Not all of it. Some of these are. I got a couple of plates that are so full, they're the only thing on it. But I. I like. That's. You can hear, like, this is. This is the song in my head. Like, why can't you just handle that? It's just when they're all together, sometimes when they've compounded and compounded and compounded, and then you add a couple of really, really big ones on top of it. Really, really consequential. And don't forget my favorite person. I mean, my. My partner and boyfriend is in Nashville right now just duking it out with cancer. He's in the middle of chemotherapy. So that gives me also this sense of, I. I cannot be in all the places I need to be and want to be at once. And so I am realizing, because I started calling for help maybe three weeks ago or so, and all of a sudden, because I just said. And there was nothing I could do because I was. I was incapacitated. That was surgery. Like, I was down. I was in the hospital for two days. Like, it wasn't like a little procedure. It was a surgery. And so because there was nothing I could literally physically do and called in help on five different levels, I just started watching the very good, capable, loving, committed other adults in my life step in to some of these places with such competency, of course, And I realized, ah, this is some lingering codependence that I have this idea that I and I alone have to fix it, can fix it. I'm the solver. The whole thing's going to fall apart without me. Nobody else can do this, nobody else can help me, nobody else understands the complexities of this particular thing like I do. And there's only a small category of things where that is true.

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[Jen Hatmaker]

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[Jen Hatmaker]

Yes, I'm the only person that can call and wrangle with My insurance company. There's a handful of things that I indeed like, have to manage. But the truth is, there was a lot that I could hand over. And I watched these other adults and family members go, we'll do that for you. We're going to show up for you. We'll be there at 10. I picked this up, I made this phone call for you. I, in some cases, I had this conversation with a person that you alone don't have to have by yourself. Will also will join the discussion. We will join the group project here for some of these very, very heavy lifts. And I realized it's the codependent who thinks she's indispensable, that life will capsize without her. And. And the truth is, when I finally just went, I cannot do it. I can't do it. Turns out other people can, and some of them can do it for themselves. Codependency keeps people in a perpetual state of, to some degree, and in some ways, infantilization, because they do not have to show up and do their own work. They don't have to. They don't have to be responsible for the consequences because you're doing the things. And so, like, the way that I know this, I have talked about this, I have written about this, I have spoken about this, I have taught about this. I have some version of this in the last four books. Knowing it is one thing. Putting it into practice into practice is another. And so I felt this sense of, like, a complete lack of control. I've lost control. And I love control. God, you. I love it. I love it. I love control. I love to feel like I'm controlling outcomes, that I am in charge of how something goes, that I get to make all the choices and decisions that get us from point A to point B. But I've lost that completely. It's just busted. And all the ways I normally guard against that have crumbled. And here I am. And so I want to just tell you that I am a living, breathing example of kind of what it looks like when this. I'm doing air quotes. You can't see me holding it all together for everyone. Finally, like, busts. And your body, your life and your capacity, just say no. Like, no. Like, we're not here for it. We've lost. We can't do it. I am. I am living it. Like, I'm living it right this second. This morning, I was in the phone call. I was on the phone with another family member asking, how can I help? And I gave three ways. Here's what you can do. And he was like, on it. I'll make the call today. I'm like, look how easy that was. Look how easy that was. And then, of course, not only does this do the solutions emerge, but they emerge in greater strength. Because guess what's better than one lady who thinks she's the center of the universe solving everything, like, putting her efforts into practice. You know what's better than that? Ten of us. Ten of us row in the boat. Ten people going, hey, we've got an oar. Let us. Let us row on our little side for a minute. Let us do our part. I'm literally. I'm. I'm in it. I'm in. I'm in practice right now. And so. So I want to wrap it up here and tell you, first of all, I'm really glad I came. The first two days, I wasn't sure. I wasn't even responding to people's texts. How is it? What is. How do you feel? What's it? All those enthusiastic texts that make sense because normally I've already met, like, six best friends on day two, and I am, like, deep in the. I didn't even answer anybody because I was just so anxious and I could not release, I could not unclench. I was. But here today, starting yesterday, with the first smile, I went, okay, I'm in the right place. I'm in the right place. I'm going to let this water be restorative. I'm going to let the pace that I'm on right now, which is 25% capacity at best, at the most of my normal. I'm going to let that help me heal. I am going to. I'm going to treat rest like it's sacred as opposed to, like the go, go, go adventure energy I normally have at me camp. I'm going to remember to be really grateful for this. This is a outrageous. Like, I know it, I know it. I know that this is an outrageous gift that I get to do this, that I have structured my life in such a way that I can be in a different, beautiful place for a month and work remotely and. And rest and recover and re. What a ins. What an absurd gift. I'm going to remember to be, like, incredibly grateful that I get to do that. And. And I'm going to trust that even though conditions are not ideal, they are not. That joy is still available and that sometimes, like, we just choose it through gritted teeth. Sometimes we choose a lake chair anyway. And girls, that's where you will find me. I'm not on a lot of adventures. I do not have a lot of physical capacity. I am cooking and cooking again. Youtubers, you can look behind me. Everything right there on the kitchen counter, it's turning into blueberry scones because that is a recipe in the cookbook. This, this meat camp is very cookbook centric. And so I am cooking and I'm spending a lot of time out there on my deck overlooking this beautiful little Lake Simcoe. And I'm reading and I'm settling in and I'm exhaling and. And I want you to as well. I want you to have permission to ask for help. I want you to have permission to admit that you cannot do everything by yourself. I want you to have permission to choose the leg chair anyway. Anyway, in the midst. And even if, if you are thinking, you. You don't know what I am going through. You don't know what in the midst means for me. I do. I do. I do. I left some major things at home and they are hard and scary. So I do. But life is always lifeing like that. And so sometimes we choose the lake chair anyway for a short amount of time just to exhale, just to let that central nervous system reset a little and realize, okay, joy is still available, hope is still available. We can still smile, we can still rest, we can onboard the other people in our lives who love us and it can help see it through. And I hope that you choose that. I hope that you choose that. And I'd love to hear it. I'd love to hear it. How you're going to choose the leg chair anyway, if that's one day. I mean, that doesn't have to be as like demonstrative and over the top as me Camp. Of course, what could be. But how. Maybe it's something you're going to go, you know what? I'm going to keep doing this. This is something I love. I'm going to keep doing it. I could lay it down right now and attend to a million other things when I'm going to keep it in rotation or this is one thing I'm going to do with an afternoo of mine. I'm gonna do this with a Saturday. I'm gonna pick a weekend. I'm gonna take this off my plate. I'd love to hear it. So that's my. That's my dispatch for me camp. Normally I have a lot of really fun, adventurous things to tell you, but at this year and also this early in the trip, I just, I don't have that share with you yet. I got here. I'm physically and mentally and emotionally recovering and maybe I'll have some more like interesting and fun and wild stories by the end of the month. Don't have them yet, but at this point I'm just grateful to be here and. I hope that if any of that lands, you just kind of sit with it. And by the way, inside the Awake Collective this month over on Substack, we are living in this theme called Gosh. And we built this out before I even knew how much I was going to need it. We're calling it the Sacred. Yes. It's so right for this month. It includes like reflection, prompts and practices, this really profound community of women who are also learning to ask, learning to rest, choosing joy on purpose just right alongside of you. We're kind of all in it together. This is where this work keeps going after this episode ends. And we'd love to have you over there so you could just find me over on Substack and you'll see the Awake Collective and all the July Sacred Yes. Content. Thanks for being here. Thanks for letting me be honest with you and I love you and I'm grateful. I'm grateful for you and for this space and for this month. So you can follow along with me of course on socials as I continue the month up here in Orillia, Canada. Everybody, thank you so much for being here and I'll see you next week.

[Susie]

To hear the full series on finding Joy in Midlife, head over to for the Love with Jen Hatmaker wherever you get your podcasts.

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