As the government shutdown continues, which affects both my ability to give my research clients the answers and closure they seek as well as my income and ability to support my family, I did find gratitude.

Seeking gratitude even in difficult circumstances can help us shift our energy from something icky and negative to something that creates more in our lives. More joy, abundance, choice, possibility, adventure, anything.

What are you grateful for today that was born of a difficult circumstance?

© 2019 Jennifer Holik Finding the Answers Journey

The last week has had its ups and downs as I prepare to head back to Europe to be with my husband. I fell back into an energetic pattern of which I have been aware and done nothing to shift. Well last night, my body said END IT! Learn what I'm doing to shift out of this pattern in the video.

What energetic patterns are you aware of that need to shift so you can take better care of yourself and create your life?

© 2019 Jennifer Holik Finding the Answers Journey

Last year I was approached by a teacher in Vietnam named Ngoc Diệu Nguyễn who was creating a program to share on Microsoft Education called War Stories.   Nguyễn was planning to bring healing to students, veterans of both sides of the Vietnam war, and the world through her program. I was happy to participate because helping the world heal from war is one of my missions.

Program Description from the website:

This collaborative project aims at sparking understanding, empathy, compassion and spreading peace by giving students the chance to talk to veterans, their family members and then share the untold frontline and home front stories with the world.

It is widely accepted that 'History is written by the victors' (Winston Churchill). So how much do we really know about history? This collaboration will open students’ eyes and hearts to the connections historically and emotionally shared between the Vietnamese and Americans or among people directly and indirectly...

It is time to change the energy we, as caregivers, exist in. I am aware something other than the darkness and negativity and fear of uncertainty is possible. Would you like to join me on my journey and witness what takes place?

© 2019 Jennifer Holik Finding the Answers Journey

The World War II Research and Writing Center and Finding the Answers Journey, where we Find the Answers to your military research questions and family stories, is now offering facilitation services.

Every client I work with requires something different which makes each project I work on unique. Some clients want the facts and only the facts ma’am. Some arrive with questions that require answers to give them peace and closure. Others arrive with one thing in mind and the energy of requiring more, which they may not be able to put into words.

I have the capacity to understand the energy of what is required. When clients are able to receive facilitation to move deeper into the records and information to get the answers they need, I can provide that.

What is research facilitation? It is a conversation, sometimes more than one, to bring awareness to a client about the impact of the information they have received on a family member. For example, I worked with a client who researched...

Happy almost New Year!

The end of 2018 has arrived, although I am not quite sure where this year went. While there were moments it felt as if it dragged on and I would never see the light at the end of the tunnel, most days seemed to fly by. As I sit here in these final hours of the year, I have been journaling a lot about my targets for the early part of 2019. I have been evaluating my business, what it has been, what it can no longer be, and what it must become. Who I must become to create in a new way.

I am writing my memoir and a couple of other books at the same time because the world requires hope and inspiration. I require an outlet for some of what I have experienced and felt. I was also put on this earth to help others discover new possibilities to cope with the unknown and difficult. This is requiring me to be very vulnerable and open. Something that is sometimes difficult.

The research we, as professionals, do for people can have serious repercussions in their lives and...

Johan and I traveled to the Dutch/German border near Aachen and spent a few days exploring WWII history and contemplating family history. I did a lot of writing on this trip. Musings. Questions. Concerns. Joyful things. All of this was captured in my journal.

One thing that keeps showing up the longer I am in Europe on this trip is that history keeps repeating itself. We are not doing enough to stop this.

Distraction

War is a distraction. Conflict is a distraction. These things keep us from the more important things in this life and reality. Yet, we continue to create them on a daily basis.

Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

I'm guilty of this. Sometimes when things are going really well there is a part of me waiting for the other shoe to drop. I might unconsciously find one thing to nag my husband about and create a conflict - small or large. Over the last year I try to be more aware of this and clear whatever is causing it. Yet there are times when I fail.

What would change in our lives,...

In October, Johan and I visited Vogelsang, a former Nazi Training Facility and Tourist hot spot/wedding venue during the 1930s and early 1940s. Standing in this place now, looking out over the beautiful fall Eifel National Park, and knowing the history of this place, was hard to wrap my head around.

The National Socialist Documentation Center, which we visited and saw the exhibit, "The Master Race", offers these questions on their website:

• What was the attraction of a place like Vogelsang during the National Socialist period?
• What did the party leadership promise young men coming here regarding their future?
• What motivated their hopes and their desire for social advancement?
  Were they, through drill and formation, predestined to participate in crimes, or could they have also said no?
• Did they see themselves as members of a supposed master race and act upon this?

After we viewed the exhibit and walked most of the complex, I had no answers to those questions. I only had more...

At some point in our lives, we are all caregivers. For some it is a short period of time where it might be an intense experience. For others it is a long, often excruciating time of uncertainty, grief, anger, and sadness mixed with elation, answers, joy, and closure.

At Finding the Answers Journey we are creating new resources for caregivers and are dedicated to helping you uncover this within your family history and your own history. We have the tools to help you write your story and find closure.

If you would like to schedule a free consult to discuss a research or writing project, please contact us today.

© 2018 Jennifer Holik

The last year of my life has had beautiful moments (I got married in a Town Hall built in the 1600s in the Netherlands) and not so beautiful moments (think doctor and hospital visits with numerous tests for my husband.) My husband was diagnosed with two kinds of cancer in early 2016. One was treated and gone. The other in a non-active state. This year, other issues showed up and it took 10 months to get answers. Over the last four to five months I realized I was a caregiver.

This isn't my first time being a caregiver. I did it for short periods for my ex-husband when he was treated for cancer, and one of our twins. Those were short periods of intense caregiving. It was different than this period of caregiving and in some ways I felt I had it 'all together' then and now, not so much.

Considering my husband has been relatively healthy since treatment ended, I never labeled myself as a caregiver. Never really saw myself in that role for him, especially since we live on two different...