A collection of love letters to my readers, The Journal captures all the hard and beautiful moments that intersect yours. Let’s navigate life together—Janene Kraft

Search The Journal by subject or title and then read the entries below

Janene Kraft Janene Kraft

THIS KNOWING

Standing on the shoreline it’s impossible to see even two feet beneath the dark water. But somehow the Loons know. To watch them suddenly rolling under to snatch their breakfast is mesmerizing.

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FOUR DECEMBERS

If I were to write a caption it would read, “Here I am studying the stripped-down version of my own sanctuary while Poet studies the stripped-down version of me.”

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OF WORDS AND DEEDS

There were just 2,160 steps between where my daddy sat at his desk inside Neiman Marcus and the spot where Kennedy was killed.

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THE MASTERPIECE OF YOU

This nameless grandfather [pictured below] kindred to the age when my Grand-Mère left this earth, transformed my definition of a beautiful image.

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HARD THINGS

We weren’t meant to linger in the hard moment, but to pass through it. Not so swiftly that we neglect to leave evidence of our humanity behind.

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HOW FAR AWAY?

Sometimes the miles required are much more than we ever imagined to get to where we need to be from where we are.

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THE BRANDING

I read the abbreviated profiles and marvel at how much of ourselves we’ve abdicated for the sake of space.

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ADAPTATIONS

Entry in my arms is nearly nonexistent. So, we improvise and access the delicate veins in my hands.

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THIS EMPTINESS

Sometimes I talk about difficult things so that we are ready when the hard moment comes.

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THIS LONGING

I walked right up to the gate and inexplicably, I failed to board the plane. 

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THE RISKS WE TAKE

Perhaps there is no easy way with cancer. But I chose the one most misunderstood. That choice has cost me the respect of some.

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MOODY

There was a time it seemed important to train my Great Dane puppies how to eat without slobbering all over the walls.

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EXTRAVAGANT LIKE FLOWERS

This is the fun part. When seeds sewn blossom into something eccentric and untamed, like wildflowers in an open field.

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LIVED EXPERIENCE

Have we misunderstood that the knowledge we can offer the world is mastered in some online course or seated in a conference hall?

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COLOR OF THE SOUL

His arm and the colors of his tattooed sleeve. The hues of green, the colors of me.

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FRAGRANCE IN THE ROOM

It isn’t rare that I see the fleeting movement, like a soft brushstroke in the corner of my eye.

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THE LETTING GO

I didn’t plan this. It planned me. Piles and piles of things lovely and once-loved telling me to let them go…

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CIRCULATING DNA

My DNA is evident in the way my lips know how to round and pucker when I say Je t’aime…

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