SHAME IS THE LIE SOMEONE TOLD YOU ABOUT YOURSELF.


Anaïs Nin

This is Jenny Baker

Oversharer

I am an oversharer since birth. I have no boundaries. Don’t know what boundaries are or why you should put them up. I have shared my stories since I was at daycare. Every time I open my mouth people are exceptionally interested. Or shocked at the madness of such an oversharing moment. People used to say or imply that I was too much and I believed them. At least too much for my country of birth or the city I lived in. Now I’ve realized I am not too much. I am simply an oversharer and at that I am just right.

Displaced citizen

I am born and raised in Sweden. I moved to NY when I was 13 and hardly spoke any English. I moved back to Sweden when I was 23 because I was tired of always being the odd one. I thought I would find home. But found out that I was too American to be Swedish. At 32, I moved back to the US where I am too Swedish to be American.  Now I live in LA where I am too much of a New Yorker to be considered an Angeleno. Sometimes I feel as if I have amputated an important part of me but most of the time I realize that life is by design and I love what I have created.

Opinionated Woman

I grew up in a patriarchal world where I was surrounded by boys and men whose opinions were expected at most times. I have had opinions about everything since birth and been continuously shocked that they weren’t equally anticipated or worth because I was a girl who displayed all of her emotions. Now I am a woman. An opinionated woman. A feminist that married a playboy. So the fight continues.

 

Daugther of an alcoholic

I am the daughter of an alcoholic. Needless to say, I have been through hell. But this has made all of the difference in my life. I used to say because of my father’s alcoholism. These days I say Thanks to my father’s alcoholism because I managed to recover from it and emerge stronger, healthier and happier. I inherited most of his traits, including the larger than life aura and the unquenchable appetite for all things. Will I fall into the same trap? Don’t think so as I’ve done the work. I have paid my dues and I have earned my seat. Thanks to him.

Daughter of a co-dependent

I am the daughter of somebody that married a man she relied on, believed in and supported at all costs. She took on caring for that partner and raising those children with a Geist seldom seen. And when he was no longer to be relied on or believed in, I took care of her. I became as codependent as the mother that I was now caring for, as we fumbled through the dark without a light. We partnered up for the bumpy journey and hung on for dear life. And still do.

Wife of a rageaholic

I am married to a rageaholic. I love him. And I hate his anger. The loudness of his daily tone of voice, addressing most everything we talk about, ring in my ears and make it hard for me to focus. I meditate a lot. He does not. His mom says his roar is louder than his bite. I say, love me the most when I deserve it the least as I need it the most. I always longed for somebody who would fight for me. I finally found one. One that does not ever stop fighting it seems. But always for the good things. Just loud.

 

Mother of girls

My whole life has been defined by being the only girl in the family and in the boardrooms. The family I came from produced boys of consequence and all of the grandkids were boys. So I assumed I’d raise boys. I dreamt I would raise them to be empathetic, engaged boys that turned into metrosexual men.  So the girls I got took me by surprise. And forced me to rethink my whole feminist persona. These girls are no minorities but my whole world. No need to talk about Girl Power or Winning like a Girl in our house. But is our future female? You bet.

Stepmother

I am raising somebody else’s child on a daily basis. I am having arguments, deep conversations and heart to heart moments with somebody that may long for her own mother or wish that her parents union was still intact. I will never really know the deep sadness or cellular dreams of this girl who I get to influence, regardless of blood. I tell her that you have not two but three parents to mirror your behavior from. When you raise your own family, pick the best practices you saw in the tumultuous mix of the modern day divorced family household that was your life. And know that it takes a village.

Inspirational Human

My goal was always to be an Inspirational Speaker and spread wisdom, experience and resilience in a humorous, no non-sense way that would make you hear it, relate to it and grow a little in your own sphere. I would still love that and if it happens, I’m there! I will not disappoint. But in the meantime, I’ve settled for Inspirational Human. What I live through, I tell. I tell anybody who asks or happens to be with me when I have an epiphany. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And I am very alive and very strong.

 
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Glimpses from my past

On lifestyle living at my old palace hotel in Stockholm.