Tag: life
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Transforming Bedtime Fear into Magical Moments
I was running on five hours of sleep. The kind where your eyes burn a little and everything feels just slightly too loud.The kind where even small things feel like too much. I had taught all day, my students were wild. Then, came home and immediately went into mom-mode. And then—of course—monsters. Not metaphorical ones.The…
Jessica Blake
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My Unexpected Fantasy Era

I used to be so sure of who I was. Not in a deep, existential way—just in the small, everyday preferences that feel fixed. The kinds of things you don’t question because they’ve always been true. I wasn’t a fantasy person. I liked things grounded in reality. Stories that felt possible. Relatable. Familiar. I would’ve…
Jessica Blake
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Navigating Nonlinear Divorce: A Journey of Self-Rediscovery
The author reflects on the complex journey of contemplating divorce, especially with children involved, while dealing with a partner exhibiting narcissistic and alcoholic behaviors. Emphasizing personal growth, self-rediscovery, and establishing boundaries, they acknowledge the challenge of navigating timelines in life and advocate for prioritizing one’s own well-being amidst uncertainty.
Jessica Blake
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Without Apology

I deserve the world. I am not too much— not too loud, not too demanding, not too opinionated. I think with my heart. I live in color. I want to be free. I want to use my voice. I exist— without apology, without shrinking, without asking permission. I am not too much.
Jessica Blake
