Be Here Now With Jen

09/10/2026

A slide taken from my 87 slide deck in my Anatomy of Compassion class I’m teaching tomorrow. 💪This is one of my favorite definitions of compassion.

It feels good to get back to these root teachings of compassion in particular on this 25th anniversary of September 11th. A day of remembrance and also sitting with the trails of pain that still linger on. Norman Fisher’s words feel spectacularly poignant.

“Remember that compassion” literally means, “to feel passion with.” Passion means pain. Compassion is the willingness to feel pain with another, to feel another’s pain as one’s own. We usually think of compassion as something sweet and nice, positive and wonderful.
Everybody wants to be compassionate. And it’s true—.compassion feels good. But we overlook the fact that compassion is also essentially a painful feeling. Feeling another’s pain as our own is painful. And it turns out that it’s impossible to take in the pain of another unless we are able to take in our own pain. And most of us are not so good at accepting our own pain; we prefer to deny it or distract ourselves from it. We are so intent on making our own pain go away that we don’t allow ourselves to feel it. We can’t take it in.
Consequently, we are incapable of feeling another’s pain, so we are incapable of actual compassion, although we may think we are quite compassionate.” (p. 32. Training in Compassion)

09/07/2026

Inquire at www.beherenowmindfulness.com

Interested in becoming a Certified Kintsugi Facilitator? Bring this beautiful and meaningful experience to your community. Inquire about the next facilitator training February 2027.
www.beherenowmindfulness.com

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09/06/2026

Just another ordinary day in the therapy world.

https://jenfinch.substack.com/p/the-devil-in-my-bosss-closet?r=7fj47&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

08/24/2026

08/19/2026

Fresh off the printer…I am excited to announce that I’ve earned the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential and am now accepting Associate Professional Counselors seeking supervision in Georgia. I am also available for seasoned therapists who want depth, embodiment, contemplative and somatic based consultation beyond case management.

With over 25 years of experience I still believe that the most important instrument you’ll ever bring into the therapy room is YOU. My hope is that our work together helps you trust that instrument more deeply —not by becoming more like me, but by becoming more fully yourself.

Check out my supervision services at: www.beherenowmindfulness.com

08/14/2026

Another year, another college drop off. Mama was hands off this year. So it does get easier. He packed, he loaded the car, he made his bed. I showed up. I bought him dinner (before cafeteria food). I hugged him goodbye. I’m back to empty nesting. It was a seamless transition and I am grateful.

Roots and wings. Roots and wings.
Go do something spectacular this year McColl Finch

08/12/2026

I have started to notice how some people feel so light, and others feel so heavy. And I have been contemplating why. Because I am certain and know for a fact it’s not because some have had more experiences in life or less hardships.

Some people seem to move through time and space with a freedom and an ability to stay in the pure present moment. While others seem to be dragging around yesterday’s weight consciously or unconsciously. Most of us don’t leave experiences where they occurred…behind us. We unknowingly pull the charge of them forward. Especially negative or painful experiences.

This diagram illustrates a concept I explore much more deeply in my latest blog post (Would You Know Who You Are Without Your Past?), where I unpack how we become attached to our timelines of experience, why we recruit old experiences into the present, and what it actually means to live from direct, present moment experience rather than accumulated history.

I’d love to hear what resonates with you. Have you ever noticed yourself recruiting the past into the present?

08/11/2026

Would you know who you are without your past?

It’s a strange question because, of course, none of us can erase our memories. That would be a silly suggestion. But I keep wondering what would happen if we stopped relying on our past to prepare us for every present moment? Would we feel freer? Could it be that the rest of us are trying to use the past for something it was never meant to do?

Maybe the better question is this: Can we trust the string?

Read the article here, I also welcome you to subscribe to my Medium page where I post my nonfiction work stuff while you are there: https://jenniferchasefinch.medium.com/would-you-know-who-you-are-without-your-past-trusting-the-string-79e6546ae18e

selftrust faceyourself movingon

08/06/2026

I missed every warning sign.

I hope this story finds the people it is meant for. The ones carrying more than they realize. The ones hypnotized by words like “just this once” or “it’s absolutely necessary.”

If reading it helps even one person recognize themselves before they reach their own breaking point, then sharing this story will have been worth it.



Read and subscribe:

https://jenfinch.substack.com/p/the-day-i-threw-my-hospital-pager

07/27/2026

This is a 5-hour continuing education course approved through the LPCA-GA. (pending) It is a full participation course, live, via Zoom, beginning at 9:30am, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 and ending at 3:45pm with optional Q&A until 4:00pm ET. Full schedule will be emailed upon registration.

Have you ever felt you have become infected by the suffering of others? Have you ever been told that you care too much? Or too little? Do you ever feel that the boundaries of your professionalism are permeable, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and burned out as you struggle to care for those around you?

What if the problem is not that you care too much or too little but that you’ve been going about compassion all wrong?

Influenced by a life spent in service to others, Jennifer has uncovered that compassion is something we do not need to train in. Compassion is composed of multiple non-compassion elements, none of which require us to sacrifice our own well-being or the well-being of those we love and support. Those who are most driven by the motivation to alleviate suffering—who have even built careers around it as healthcare professionals, educators, social workers, therapists, and more—are confronted daily by obstacles to acting with compassion.

The biggest obstacle is right in front of you, and Jennifer will ask you to give up who you think you are in order to see it. This is a full participation (experience over education) workshop that takes us on a fascinating body-mind-soul journey that aims to pique more interest in making sense of and understanding how we have organized ourselves around suffering. Avoiding the obstacles of compassion separates the average therapist from those achieving clinical excellence.

Details and Registration: www.beherenowmindfulness.com
Then Head To The EVENTS Page