Category: Personal Essays
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When Safety Returns, So Might I
The author reflects on the connection between illness and unexpressed emotions. They articulate that survival differs from true living and healing cannot occur in turmoil. The hope is for a future where safety allows for gradual healing, transforming feelings of dread into peace and restoring a sense of self and wellness.
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After the Name, Comes the Grief
The author reflects on the deep grief that follows medical validation. After years of struggle, the diagnosis feels paradoxical, bringing relief alongside sorrow for lost time, relationships, and self-identity. This complex emotional journey showcases the coexistence of gratitude for answers and the mourning of everything endured while seeking care.
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Why I Write
The author reflects on their journey from fantasy writing to capturing the realities of pain and survival through words. Inspired by personal trauma and the need for connection, writing becomes a tool for healing and reclaiming identity. They aim to resonate with those feeling unseen, ultimately forging community through shared experiences.
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What Nearly Killed Me Wasn’t the Illness—It Was the System
The author reflects on their five-year struggle with chronic illness and inadequate medical care. Despite multiple specialists and difficult experiences, they emphasize the ongoing battle against the medical system, marked by negligence and lack of accountability. They seek compassionate, trauma-informed care and highlight the necessity for medical integrity and respect for patients’ suffering.
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Anxious Is the New Hysterical
Jessica Woodville reflects on the historical context of women’s emotions, equating past “hysteria” with today’s labeling of anxiety. She argues that these diagnoses often dismiss deeper issues, particularly when trauma is involved. Women are urged to be believed and listened to, advocating for acknowledgment beyond superficial labels of anxiety.
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They Called It Stress, I Called It Survival
The speaker describes a medical examination with wires attached, reflecting on the emotional trauma they’ve experienced. They reveal the diagnosis of Takotsubo syndrome symbolizes deep sorrow and an overwhelmed heart. The simplicity of suggested remedies contrasts sharply with the complex history of pain and unresolved feelings, emphasizing the struggle for safety and healing.
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The Cult of Anne Boleyn (And Why I’m Over It)
Let me start with a confession: I am so tired of hearing about Anne Boleyn. There. I said it. Okay actually two confessions, the second being this maaay have been written during a drug induced exhaustion during a recent hospital stay due to a pretty sever health flare up BUT it happened, so here it…
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The Morning Everything Changed
One night, she drifted off — a child spun from stardust and backyard laughter, dreaming of bigger bikes, summer rains, and birthday candles burning too fast. One night, the world was still simple. And then — somewhere between one breath and the next — the earth shifted. She woke up and the world was heavier,…
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This Is What It Cost Me: Five Years, One Body, and a System That Still Won’t Listen
I’ve written about this before—maybe two, three times now. Chronic illness. Storms. Parenting through it. The trauma it leaves behind. But the truth is, every time I write, I hold a piece back. Because reliving it costs energy I barely have. Because writing about being dismissed starts to feel like shouting into a void. But…
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The Things I Wish I Could Tell Little Me
You won’t believe me, but you survive. Not just the day-to-day battles, but the long war. The years of being invisible. The times you wished you could disappear entirely. You survive it all. And one day, you write it down. You speak it out loud. You turn it into something more than pain. You turn…
Jessica Woodville | Memoir & Musings 