Discover joy in the hard places

Welcome to the blog of JP Mills where you will find encouragement and belonging through reflective journaling and poetry.

Joyful Ruins

Discovering joy in the hard places

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  • This Body

    This Body

    I look at my body and frown Too fat Too many spots Too achy And I realize I am speaking to her the words I’ve always feared to hear Too much or Too little Why do I treat her with such little grace? It’s not her fault that she responds to our world to food… Continue reading

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  • Reconstruction

    I don’t hear your voice telling me I should. I don’t hear your voice at all. But I think I see you more in spirit around me than I did before. Like Mother Nature, always there, never gone, so I need not obsess over thoughts of her, but appreciate her as often as I can,… Continue reading

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  • Losing my Religion

    I once thought of You every second of every day A recipe of adoration fear and codependency somehow supporting me keeping me alive while also stifling my identity You consumed me once But now I hardly think of You except in fleeting moments Sometimes I wonder if You are the air I breathe or the… Continue reading

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  • Birds Migrate

    We shout out Welcome! Dream! Freedom! while barring the way for those who need the hope of a new start We rip apart families because we’ve convinced ourselves they are animals We let birds fly back and forth over our borders oohing and aahing at their colors while we spend millions of dollars to stop… Continue reading

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  • Nurture Versus Nature

    It’s truly been my world that’s made me sick I’ve always been told I was the problem My thinking wrong my feelings too much But now that I’ve found safety and I am more myself than I have ever been I know that it wasn’t me that was wrong but the world I lived in… Continue reading

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About Me

An obsessive journaler who loves meeting others along their journey and giving them a hand to hold through pieces of writing. I write about the heartbreaks of life and the joys, the ups and downs, and I often learn my greatest lessons and miracles from nature.

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