Author Archives: Jaclynn Loibl

I sat at a virtual poker table with a chatty player, a guy that’d been in the military for 20+ years. When I told him what I did for a living, he said, “Thank you for what you do.”  That’s a new one.  I’m used to “Boy do I need to see you!” or “IContinue reading “Stay”

Would you save someone who was drowning – flailing about, choking down water? What if you knew you’d likely go under with them in the process? Change the lake to a therapy session and the water to emotions, and you can understand my dilemma. So what I did was I decided not a save theContinue reading “Sinking Dingy”

You know the experience of having a friendship end, the pain and confusion, how difficult it is, and how you change because of it?  That’s how it felt when I stopped blogging. At first, it was a hot and heavy love affair. Blogging and I spent one hundred and twenty days straight together, filled withContinue reading “Quit to Wit”

Do you know how a haircut or stylish new shirt aligns with a more positive, polished, mature-even version of yourself? For me, shifting my office out of the bedroom feels like exactly that. Instead of a wall, I look out at the two acres of land directly behind our house – at the decades-old pine,Continue reading “Kudos Kiddo”

As I sift through the closet clutter I pulled out yesterday; I’m contemplating what I’m up against and am in the middle of an inner conflict. On the one hand, I feel un-justified, stressing about it the way I am. I think, “C’mon, stressing over items in a closet is ridiculous. You know there are peopleContinue reading “Psychic Crickets”

I am sitting here and watching the fog. Its thick dampness hangs in the air like a heavy quilt. It reminds me of a patchwork from long ago; on it, my Grandma had hand-sewn all her grandkids’ names and birth years. How I loved sleeping in the guest room under that thing! Speaking of Grandma,Continue reading “Utterly Cluttery”

I’m too competitive. Do you know how many times I’ve been told this? What matters now is that I beat the crap out of Dave in a board game last night. The score? 71-41! (If you’re interested, the game’s called Duel. It’s surprisingly fun and a complex game only being for two players.) I mentionedContinue reading “Fave Foodies”

I feel complicated and vulnerable. And on top of that, I’m being critical of myself. My therapist’s knowledge can serve as a double-edged sword in times like these. It’s uncomfortable admitting that I expect to be different from what I am. And that I shouldn’t have the “fuck its” and that I should know whatContinue reading “A Whale of a Time”

I’m eight pages into Matthew Mcconaughey’s book “Greenlights” and don’t know how I’ll make it much longer. He uses too many adjectives and verbs consecutively, which offers little new information to the reader. I want the meat, Matthew! C’mon! (If he used Grammarly for editing as I do, he’d never gotten away with that. But,Continue reading “Extract Attack”

I’ve been writing a book on and off for ten years. Currently, I’m stuck, and I don’t know where to go next with the story. I feel detached from the project right now, but I wish I didn’t.  The process of telling a story is quite fun, and it’s also agonizing and brutal. Right now,Continue reading “Odd Duck”