I’m Jessica.
Since childhood, I’ve been deeply aware of the brevity and wonder of being alive. I remember feeling moved to tears by moments of beauty, connection, and love. Even then, something in me understood how extraordinary it is to be here. Through guaranteed adversity, I know it is the only place I want to be.
For much of my life I felt this privately. Over time, through years of reflection, searching, and growth, I began to accept myself, accept others, and live from who I am, at the core, more freely.
What I’ve discovered along the way became clear: the deeper I grow, the lighter life becomes.
Life isn’t meant to be lived in heaviness. Our fullest expression lives in curiosity, joy, and presence. Wisdom is playful, open, and free.
I’ve noticed that one can be have a sense of humor and not be wise, but that it is impossible to be wise and not have a great sense of humor about life and the world.
My greatest desire: to love this world, in whatever way I can, and enjoy the experience of being alive, for however long I have.
Awilda Story is one expression of that. It was born from a childhood dream to share the lessons I learn over my lifetime. I later knew I would have a site of writings for anyone to find - called Awilda and inspired by the myth with the same name - beginning 13 years ago.
I’ve grown enormously in that time. I look forward to sharing that continuous and profoundly rewarding process. The site, writings, and videos will evolve as I do.
As so many of you inspire and help show me the way.
Thank you for being here. The whole point is for this to be fun.
Awilda Story is devoted to living and loving fully.
It is an ongoing exploration of the vast potential of a life and the great adventure of being alive.
The Myth of Awilda: Awilda was a Scandinavian princess who became a pirate, choosing her own life over the one expected of her. Faced with an unwanted betrothal, she stowed away on a ship dressed as a boy, alongside friends, and eventually captained a pirate ship, winning the crew’s hearts and respect.
After great adventures at sea, she battled the prince she was once betrothed to, and they fell in love. She returned to the life she ran from, not as she was, but more whole, more free, more alive.
Awilda Story is my exploration of that same spirit, living and loving fully, reaching toward potential and greatness—the dance of a life that is truly your own. In the end, we all “return home,” and may life be an adventure of coming to know both ourselves and the world around us, however big or small, before we do.
“For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half-known life.”
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
“Looking back over a lifetime, you see that love was the answer to everything.”
“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.”
“We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are.”