The Unmasked Journal
Where we name what hurts and reclaim our own knowing.
For the woman who has spent her life questioning herself while understanding everyone else.
For the woman asking, "Is this my trauma response, or am I being hurt?"
For the mother who holds everything together while quietly falling apart.
For the neurodivergent woman who has spent so much of her life masking that she's forgotten what it feels like to simply exist as herself.
Here, we have the conversations that are too often left unspoken.
About emotional abuse and neglect. Relationship anxiety. The shadow side of empathy. Nervous-system overwhelm. Boundaries, self-trust, and the complicated journey of finding yourself beyond survival.
Through lived experience, thoughtful education, and honest reflection, we'll explore the patterns that shape our lives without shame, judgment, or someone else deciding our truth for us.
Because sometimes healing begins when someone finally gives you language for what you've been experiencing.
Welcome to The Unmasked Journal.
With love, Jess — The Mystic Midwife
It Didn't Start as Abuse. It Started Like I'd Found My Soulmate.
It didn't start with yelling, manipulation, or walking on eggshells. It started with butterflies, laughter, and a man I believed was my soulmate. Slowly, the love I thought I'd found became a relationship where I questioned my memory, my needs, and my worth. I was so busy trying to heal my own wounds that I almost missed the harm happening right in front of me. This is the story of how I lost myself, and how I finally found my way back.
I Didn't Leave Suddenly. I Left in a Thousand Tiny Moments.
Maybe it looked like I left in one night. But the truth is, I had been leaving slowly for years. In every dismissed need, every swallowed word, every moment I abandoned myself in the name of love. This is my story of emotional neglect, trauma bonding, losing myself in a relationship, and finally finding the courage to choose myself—even when I had no idea what came next.
Before You Ask Why She Stayed, Put Yourself in Her Shoes
Before you ask why she stayed, consider what it feels like to no longer trust your own reality. When emotional abuse leaves you exhausted, afraid, and questioning your judgment, even the smallest decisions can feel impossible. I've been her. This is for every woman who stayed, every woman who found the courage to leave, and everyone who needs to understand why compassion matters more than judgment.
I Was So Afraid of Hurting Others That I Forgot I Could Be Hurt
I experienced so much pain that I made an impossible promise: I would never be the reason someone else hurt. So I became careful, forgiving, understanding, and endlessly accommodating. I protected everyone else's feelings while abandoning my own. Somewhere along the way, I became a pincushion for the very pain I was trying to prevent. This is the story of realizing that I deserve my own kindness, too.
He Didn't Need a Key. He Already Knew the Code.
I spent years believing that if I could just explain myself clearly enough, I would finally be understood. But somewhere between the constant questioning and endless defending, I began doubting my own reality. Then a dream about a locked door revealed something profound: sometimes the hardest part of leaving isn't walking away. It's reclaiming the parts of yourself someone else still knows how to reach.