Category: Real Life- Author’s Posts

• Releasing What I Didn’t Know I Was Holding

  For several weeks, I have just felt a tightness in my neck. To the point it almost became unbearable. A few nights ago, I put my neck massager on and almost immediately found the knot. I let the massager do its thing, felt a pop, and suddenly I could almost hear better in my left…

  Jessica Blake

  February 4, 2026

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  family, grief, mental-health, narcissists, relationships, self discovery, writing

• I’m Still Here…Just Processing

  Things have not gone according to plan, or at least the plan I created in my head. I wanted to file on my birthday and serve in the days following. However, that was the same week I went back to work. My nervous system became overwhelmed. I couldn’t file. I couldn’t even think about having…

  Jessica Blake

  January 18, 2026

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  family, healing, life, love, mental-health, narcissim, narcissists, relationships, self discovery, writing

• Slow is Still Forward

  I was certain I was going to file. I had reached that place — the place where your mind feels resolved, your heart feels quiet, and you think, this is it. I’m ready. And then my birthday came. And the waves came with it. More than anything in the days prior, I had been steady.…

  Jessica Blake

  January 9, 2026

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  emotional-release, empowerment, family, life, mental-health, relationships, self discovery, writing

• Self-abandonment Disguised as Virtue

  There is a particular kind of goodness women are taught. It looks like patience. It sounds like forgiveness. It wears the soft voice of “understanding” and the quiet smile of “it’s okay.” It is praised. It is rewarded. It is often called strength. But underneath the gold star language lives something much darker: Self-abandonment. We…

  Jessica Blake

  January 4, 2026

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  break-free, divorce, emotional-connection, emotional-release, empowerment, mental-health, self discovery, self-empowerment, self-love

• More Than (a poem)

  It was more than a smile, more than a laugh. It was her soul coming back. It was more than breath, more than ease. It was her ache learning how to leave. It was more than pen to paper, more than practiced words. It was her story remembering its worth. It was the quiet return…

  Jessica Blake

  January 2, 2026

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  emotional_healing, emotional_release, inner_journey, inner_strength, introspective_reflection, personal_growth, quiet_introspection, quiet_resilience, soulful_emotions

• Pathological People Pleaser

  (Yes, I do speak in Taylor Swift lyrics…don’t judge me) There is a quiet moment that comes before a life changes. It doesn’t look dramatic.It doesn’t announce itself.It doesn’t come with fireworks or certainty. It comes in small realizations. In questions you don’t ask out loud.In pauses that feel heavier than words.In the ache of…

  Jessica Blake

  December 31, 2025

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  change is scary, healing, life, life changes, love, mental-health, personal growth, writing

• Wild & Rooted

  

  Every day, I am becoming more myself. My time.My body.My mind.My space.My creativity. For a long time, I tried to make myself fit into a life that wasn’t meant for me — shrinking, editing, and smoothing my edges to survive in places that questioned my right to exist fully. “Why is your stuff everywhere?”“Why do…

  Jessica Blake

  December 30, 2025

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  choose yourself, life after divorce, love, mental-health, personal growth, self-love, writing

• Slowness is Healing

  There are very few people in my life who truly know what I am walking through. Oddly enough, I like it that way. There is a reason for this season of quiet. I am healing — not just from my marriage, not just from the constant tension my body has lived inside of — but…

  Jessica Blake

  December 29, 2025

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  family, healing, health, life, love, mental-health, spirituality, writing

• Building Flowers in a Burning Room.

  

  My kitchen table is covered in tiny plastic petals.Yellow, blush, ivory, sage.My hands are snapping together LEGO flowers while my life feels like it’s quietly imploding in the background. The world I live inside right now is loud.Emotionally unpredictable.Heavy with tension.Full of things that make my nervous system brace itself even when nothing is “happening.”…

  Jessica Blake

  December 28, 2025

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  grief, healing, life, love, mental-health, narcissim, relationships, writing

• Small Voices, Big Reminders

  

  I was organizing the house for Christmas — the quiet, in-between kind of organizing where nothing is actually finished, but everything feels like it’s slowly finding its place again. Half-sorted toys sat in wild piles that became more chaotic as the boys dug through them. The boys were doing their usual parallel play, where they…

  Jessica Blake

  December 23, 2025

  Real Life- Author’s Posts

  family, grief, life, love, mental-health, narcissim, relationships, writing