You probably wouldn’t notice looking at me, but I’m not myself. I’m a too-tight rubber band that’s retreated inside, like a fox in the dark of its den. I’m listening too intently. Coiled like an unsprung spring. Cocked and ready. I’m not tolerating the stress in this moment well. Nobody is attacking me, and yetContinue reading “False Alarm”
Author Archives: Jaclynn Loibl
Notting Hill (2026)
I scrolled through the handful of WordPress’s daily prompts, hoping for a gold nugget of an answer to shoot into my mind like a rocket across the sky, but nothing did. I have Meryl Streep’s energy in The Devil Wears Prada, “No! No. Noooo,” to anything and everything that comes across my desk. Have youContinue reading “Notting Hill (2026)”
Movie Night
How’s it 8:41 p.m. already, huh?! Paused on the TV, ready for play to be pressed, is the movie The Witches. I grew up on the one with Anjelica Huston from 1990 and remember its weird impact on me as a kid. It was a touch thrilling, scary, and otherworldly. I loved it. Evelyn’s atContinue reading “Movie Night”
Where Seldom Is Heard
On a plastic dinglebog, I’ve hung an eye mask. It’s night two of front yard camping, and that’s one thing I learned from night one—the sun’s a big, bad bully to this flimsy, flamsy nylon. Evelyn is searching high and low for a white bunny stuffie she supposedly brought in here. Getting these kinks outContinue reading “Where Seldom Is Heard”
An Unnecessary Turf War
I run. When I do, I take up the third half of a lane—the left lane. I run straight toward oncoming traffic, but 99% of the time I’m on country roads or in town—a town a 2026 census placed at 784 to 1,257 people—and the care for my safety means drivers move completely out ofContinue reading “An Unnecessary Turf War”
Where We Lay Our Head
Bus 24-74 is one of a barrage of buses that crosses our front porch’s vantage point. In the long string of buses, it’s that bus—the one that honks. I anticipate its arrival, looking at the watch or clock, wondering if it’s time yet. At or around 3 p.m., she comes. Like clockwork. On those weekday,Continue reading “Where We Lay Our Head”
How I Turned a Small Moment Into a Big Problem
It started after a session with a newish client. The intersection of feeling needed by them and my sense I’ve failed them does it. Their story sucked me in and spit me out, and suddenly I wasn’t balanced or settled or strong. I’d fallen into an unliked version of myself—pulled out to sea in emotion,Continue reading “How I Turned a Small Moment Into a Big Problem”
Back Alley Mind
I’m spinning in a toilet bowl that isn’t flushing. About relationships. About what I didn’t say, didn’t do, where my voice is throttled or too much or off. When I finally climb to the toilet’s seat, panting and wringing out the waterloggedness, I slip and back in I go. It’s always relational, this insecure back-alleyContinue reading “Back Alley Mind”
Bippity Boppity Boutique
Like a ship in a storm, the waves pound me sideways—unrelenting and unforgiving. The AliExpress seller scam sucked me dry for $150, and my savior, PayPal, spat at me and sided with the seller. Since helplessness nor resignation is written in my life’s mission statement, I slathered that thick, waxy stuff atop my cuts andContinue reading “Bippity Boppity Boutique”
Night Off
Real quick, hit my personal record on the two-mile run tonight. Other than that, no news. See you tomorrow! Love, Jaclynn