Hi, I'm Jess!

This is not my beautiful life... How did I get here? 

Most of my life, I thought I was happy. In reality, I went through cycles of meh to misery with happy moments interspersed. I was (and still am, at times) trying to buy and achieve my way to happiness, which just doesn’t work. In March 2013, I went inpatient for recurrent suicidal thoughts and embarked on an unexpected year of talk therapy, group work, somatic healing, and many, many self-help books. In the years since, I’ve added in exposure therapy and yoga teacher training, while also trying to navigate the ups and downs that come with treating mental health issues (anxiety, depression, and PTSD for me). Those sorts of things don’t have a quick fix, but they need to be discussed openly so that people can get help and not feel quite so alone (as I did when I was suicidal). It is possible to manage these things, although it’s certainly not easy. I’m still figuring it out myself! xo

Just what is a sparkle punch?

It's the good in an otherwise unpleasant situation… like hearing from the chair of the English department that you finally found your thesis on page 8 of a 20-page grad school term paper. In the years since blurting out that image to a friend, it’s become my symbol of the good in a bad situation. I definitely, definitely struggle with having a positive mindset, so the sparkle punch is a helpful (funny, ridiculous) reminder that works for me. Of course, some situations are just truly awful—I’m not trying to “live, laugh, love” that away. I’ve just found that, when I can find a positive (or, at least, the humor) in a bad situation, the better—for my own sanity.