J. Hiatt | Reflective Writing
@jhiattwrites.bsky.social
Resilience taught gently.
Bending without breaking.
Returning to yourself in a chaotic world.
🌿 Writing about inner resilience and the quiet work of coming home to yourself.
Bending without breaking.
Returning to yourself in a chaotic world.
🌿 Writing about inner resilience and the quiet work of coming home to yourself.
Pinned
A Quiet Space to Return to Yourself
Welcome.
open.substack.com
If you've been looking for a place to breathe, think, and retun to yourself, I've created one. My writing lives here now:
The hardest part isn't wanting too much. It's staying steady when none of what you want feels fully met. Can you hold that without treating it like failure?
February 12, 2026 at 5:07 PM
The hardest part isn't wanting too much. It's staying steady when none of what you want feels fully met. Can you hold that without treating it like failure?
You don't owe urgency to everything you care about. Something can matter deeply and still not need to happen right now. What are you learning to want without rushing toward it?
February 11, 2026 at 5:45 PM
You don't owe urgency to everything you care about. Something can matter deeply and still not need to happen right now. What are you learning to want without rushing toward it?
Sometimes the dots connect later, not now. Do you believe the same? Why or why not?
February 11, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Sometimes the dots connect later, not now. Do you believe the same? Why or why not?
You can care deeply about something and not be actively working on it. That's not abandonment. That's patience.
February 9, 2026 at 5:45 PM
You can care deeply about something and not be actively working on it. That's not abandonment. That's patience.
Simplifying too soon can cost you parts of yourself. Integration means being patient enough to let things coexist before deciding what stays. What almost got cut that you're glad you kept?
February 6, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Simplifying too soon can cost you parts of yourself. Integration means being patient enough to let things coexist before deciding what stays. What almost got cut that you're glad you kept?
What builds up quietly still counts. Skills connecting. Values resurfacing. Patterns forming. The work isn't always visible while it's happening.
February 5, 2026 at 5:07 PM
What builds up quietly still counts. Skills connecting. Values resurfacing. Patterns forming. The work isn't always visible while it's happening.
Holding complexity without collapsing—that's the practice. You don't need all your goals met to feel grounded.
February 5, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Holding complexity without collapsing—that's the practice. You don't need all your goals met to feel grounded.
Not everything important needs to be in motion right now. Do you agree or not? Tell me why in the comments 👇️
February 4, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Not everything important needs to be in motion right now. Do you agree or not? Tell me why in the comments 👇️
Integration means staying whole while different things coexist, even unfinished.
February 3, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Integration means staying whole while different things coexist, even unfinished.
The tension between what you want isn't always a problem. Sometimes it's just complexity—and you're strong enough to hold it.
February 2, 2026 at 5:45 PM
The tension between what you want isn't always a problem. Sometimes it's just complexity—and you're strong enough to hold it.
I used to think returning to center was about getting better at it. Now I know it's about proving to myself I can always come back.
I don't do it because I'm good at it. I do it because each time, I'm choosing myself again.
What keeps you returning to yourself?
I don't do it because I'm good at it. I do it because each time, I'm choosing myself again.
What keeps you returning to yourself?
January 31, 2026 at 3:13 AM
I used to think returning to center was about getting better at it. Now I know it's about proving to myself I can always come back.
I don't do it because I'm good at it. I do it because each time, I'm choosing myself again.
What keeps you returning to yourself?
I don't do it because I'm good at it. I do it because each time, I'm choosing myself again.
What keeps you returning to yourself?
The work isn't to stay centered at all times.
The work is to remember how to return to the steadiness you hold within you.
Not perfectly.
Just consistently.
The work is to remember how to return to the steadiness you hold within you.
Not perfectly.
Just consistently.
January 30, 2026 at 8:01 PM
The work isn't to stay centered at all times.
The work is to remember how to return to the steadiness you hold within you.
Not perfectly.
Just consistently.
The work is to remember how to return to the steadiness you hold within you.
Not perfectly.
Just consistently.
Home stretch at the Hay House Boot Camp! Day 3 has been intense but so worth it. ✍️
If you’re here on Bluesky and attending, say hello! I’d love to follow some fellow writers so we can keep supporting each other after the final day tomorrow. #HayHouse #WritingCommunity
If you’re here on Bluesky and attending, say hello! I’d love to follow some fellow writers so we can keep supporting each other after the final day tomorrow. #HayHouse #WritingCommunity
January 29, 2026 at 2:51 AM
Home stretch at the Hay House Boot Camp! Day 3 has been intense but so worth it. ✍️
If you’re here on Bluesky and attending, say hello! I’d love to follow some fellow writers so we can keep supporting each other after the final day tomorrow. #HayHouse #WritingCommunity
If you’re here on Bluesky and attending, say hello! I’d love to follow some fellow writers so we can keep supporting each other after the final day tomorrow. #HayHouse #WritingCommunity
Inner steadiness grows each time we notice when we've moved off-center and gently guide ourselves back.
Over time, this builds trust, not in circumstances being stable, but in our ability to find stability within them.
Over time, this builds trust, not in circumstances being stable, but in our ability to find stability within them.
January 28, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Inner steadiness grows each time we notice when we've moved off-center and gently guide ourselves back.
Over time, this builds trust, not in circumstances being stable, but in our ability to find stability within them.
Over time, this builds trust, not in circumstances being stable, but in our ability to find stability within them.
I don't write because life is calm. I write because something in me refuses to stay quiet. Why do you write?
January 26, 2026 at 11:21 PM
I don't write because life is calm. I write because something in me refuses to stay quiet. Why do you write?
Returning to center doesn't require a dramatic reset.
Pausing before reacting.
Grounding yourself in what you can control.
Choosing clarity over spiraling.
Small, quiet choices that bring you back.
Pausing before reacting.
Grounding yourself in what you can control.
Choosing clarity over spiraling.
Small, quiet choices that bring you back.
January 24, 2026 at 2:51 AM
Returning to center doesn't require a dramatic reset.
Pausing before reacting.
Grounding yourself in what you can control.
Choosing clarity over spiraling.
Small, quiet choices that bring you back.
Pausing before reacting.
Grounding yourself in what you can control.
Choosing clarity over spiraling.
Small, quiet choices that bring you back.
Steadiness isn't a state we arrive at. It's a practice we return to.
Life rarely stays balanced, and inner steadiness isn't about holding it all together. It's about remembering how to come back to yourself. Again and again.
Life rarely stays balanced, and inner steadiness isn't about holding it all together. It's about remembering how to come back to yourself. Again and again.
January 21, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Steadiness isn't a state we arrive at. It's a practice we return to.
Life rarely stays balanced, and inner steadiness isn't about holding it all together. It's about remembering how to come back to yourself. Again and again.
Life rarely stays balanced, and inner steadiness isn't about holding it all together. It's about remembering how to come back to yourself. Again and again.
Progress doesn't always feel like progress. Sometimes it just feels like presence.
January 17, 2026 at 4:51 AM
Progress doesn't always feel like progress. Sometimes it just feels like presence.
The calendar changes. The work continues. Reinvention is exhausting. Continuity is sustainable. And it's in that continuation—not the surge, not the reset—that resilience takes shape.
January 17, 2026 at 2:51 AM
The calendar changes. The work continues. Reinvention is exhausting. Continuity is sustainable. And it's in that continuation—not the surge, not the reset—that resilience takes shape.
What's one commitment you've quietly kept lately?
January 14, 2026 at 3:28 AM
What's one commitment you've quietly kept lately?
Resilience shows up in ordinary days handled with care. In follow-through that doesn't rely on emotional momentum. In choosing steadiness over intensity. The work that matters most rarely announces itself.
January 14, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Resilience shows up in ordinary days handled with care. In follow-through that doesn't rely on emotional momentum. In choosing steadiness over intensity. The work that matters most rarely announces itself.
Resilience doesn’t come from disruption alone.
It’s often formed through repetition.
It’s often formed through repetition.
January 13, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Resilience doesn’t come from disruption alone.
It’s often formed through repetition.
It’s often formed through repetition.
Continuity is more sustainable than reinvention.
January 10, 2026 at 4:51 AM
Continuity is more sustainable than reinvention.
We expect the calendar to change us. But most meaningful work continues regardless. Resilience isn't built in peaks—it's built in the steady return. When there's no novelty, no momentum, and you show up anyway.
January 10, 2026 at 2:51 AM
We expect the calendar to change us. But most meaningful work continues regardless. Resilience isn't built in peaks—it's built in the steady return. When there's no novelty, no momentum, and you show up anyway.
Not everything meaningful begins with a fresh start.
Some things deepen through staying.
Some things deepen through staying.
January 9, 2026 at 4:14 AM
Not everything meaningful begins with a fresh start.
Some things deepen through staying.
Some things deepen through staying.