We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Anchor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.
Jessica, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from my relationship with pain- not in spite of it, but because of it. I’ve lived through complex trauma. Rather than letting it harden me, it has expanded my capacity for compassion, patience, and presence- first with myself, then with others.
Nature has been one of my greatest teachers- showing me how things break and bloom, how cycles are sacred, and how nothing is truly ever lost, only transformed. I see it in the way fallen leaves become soil, how wildfire clears space for new growth, or how even a dying tree continues to nourish the forest floor. These rhythms remind me that endings often carry the seeds of beginning. I draw on these lessons when I create. My work is rooted in the understanding that healing isn’t linear, that creativity is both transformation and joy, and that beauty can coexist with grief.
I’ve also discovered resilience through my tenderness. In a culture that often equates strength with toughness, I’m learning to see my softness as a powerful form of strength- one that allows me to hold emotional space both in my art and in my healing.
So, I’d say my resilience is woven from many threads: the wisdom of my past, the patience shaped by survival, and the sacred thread spun from the rhythm of my heart.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m the artist and founder behind Anchored Roots, a soul-business rooted in the belief that art is a companion in healing. I create nature-inspired home decor, personal talisman, and ritual tools that are meant to support people on their spiritual and emotional journeys. Each piece is handmade with intention- designed to hold meaning, offer grounding, and serve as a touchstone for transformation.
This work was born from my own healing- from learning how to reconnect with the earth, with ritual, and with my body and soul after trauma. Everything I offer now comes from what I needed then.
My work lives at the intersection of art and ritual. I believe beauty can be a portal- an invitation to reconnect with ourselves, our stories, and the natural cycles that guide us. Alongside my creations, I also host workshops, where I guide others through creative and intuitive practices that foster connection, reflection, and embodiment. I currently offer a digital wreath making workshop through Ko-fi, with plans to expand that library in the coming months. In addition to my online offerings, I also share my work in person at artisan markets as a vendor, and am proud to have my pieces sold in shops across the country. You can also find my creations on Etsy, where I continue to connect with people who resonate with my vision.
Soon I’ll be stepping into sound healing as a certified Sound Practitioner- another modality to support emotional release and energetic restoration. My intention is to continue growing my mercantile brand, Anchored Roots, where people can come to shop for products which remind them that they are resilient, and that they’re supported in their becoming. My art, ritual, and soul-centered community is empowering because I invite others to explore, reach out, or simply witness what speaks to their own journey.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Looking back, three qualities that have been most impactful on my journey are self-trust, creative devotion, and emotional presence.
Self-trust has been the foundation of everything. It took time, and a lot of unlearning, to recognize that I could listen to my own inner voice, even when it went against outside expectations. For anyone early on their path, I’d say: start small. Honor your gut feelings. That doesn’t always mean making big, bold moves- sometimes it looks like saying no when you usually say yes, even if you can’t explain why. It might be choosing rest over productivity, or walking away from something that no longer feels aligned- even if it still looks good on paper. It can be as simple as pausing long enough to ask, “What do I need right now?” and actually listening to the answer. Self-trust builds in layers- like muscle, yes, but also like memory- through small, repeated acts of listening.
Creative devotion has helped me stay connected to my purpose, even when things felt uncertain or still. I won’t pretend that I always show up with perfect consistency- sometimes I do find myself waiting for the creative pulse to return, or for inspiration to move through me again. I’ve learned that devotion isn’t about force; it’s about presence. It’s trusting that even in quiet seasons, something is still unfolding. The act of returning, again and again, is what keeps the channel open. Whether your medium is paint, plants, words, or sound, let it be a relationship, not a performance. Tend to it gently, honor where you’re at, and let it evolve with you.
Emotional presence has allowed me to hold space- both for myself and for others- in a way that feels honest, soft, and steady. It’s a practice of turning toward what’s rising instead of away from it, of meeting our emotions without judgment, and allowing them to move through us. For me, that has meant sitting with grief, fear, and uncertainty- not rushing to fix or explain them, but learning to hold them with compassion. When we do that, something shifts. We begin to alchemize what we feel- not by forcing it to change, but by allowing it to be witnessed and integrated. Emotional presence doesn’t mean being unshakable, it means being available to your inner experience with gentleness and truth. Let your emotions move like weather- changing, cyclical, sometimes supercharged with energy. Some pass quickly like a summer rain; others settle in like a system that hovers for days- heavy, slow to shift…yet still part of a larger pattern. Neither way is wrong. The more kindly you can meet yourself in those moments, the more capacity you’ll build to hold space for others in theirs.
Each of these qualities is a practice- one that takes time, patience, and intention. There’s no perfect version of any of them. Growth doesn’t move in a straight line; it circles back, deepens, and unfolds in layers. Give yourself permission to return to the beginning as many times as you need, that’s still part of the path.
This is the foundation of the work I create and share with the world. Every piece, every workshop, every interaction is infused with the same principles of self-trust, devotion, and emotional presence. They are a reflection of what I’ve learned through my own journey, and my hope is that they can serve as a mirror for others to reconnect with their own creative energy, inner wisdom, and healing process.
If you’re drawn to the pieces I create or the workshops I offer, know that they are all grounded in the same intention: to support your own path of reflection, embodiment, and connection. You can buy my work through my Etsy shop, or join me in an upcoming workshops- where we’ll create space for your own journey to unfold, layer by layer.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I feel overwhelmed, I lean into practices that help me ground, release, and reconnect with myself. One of the first things I do is step outside. There’s something about the earth that always brings me back to my center- the sun on my skin, the rhythm of the wind in the trees. Even a short time outdoors, taking in the natural world, reminds me that life is cyclical, and overwhelm is just a passing moment. Nature helps me remember that I don’t need to rush through it; I can simply be with it as it unfolds.
Somatic and expressive movements are also powerful tools for me when emotions feel stuck in my body. I improvise through an intuitive style of dance which I refer to as ‘body poetry,’ that helps release tension and reset a balanced unity between my body and mind- this helps me to arrive back into my Self.
Sometimes, though, I need to share the weight. I turn to a trusted friend for emotional support. Talking with someone I feel safe with- someone who can listen without judgment and mirror my experience- is a powerful form of co-regulation. We don’t always need to fix things; often, simply being heard with empathy can ease the intensity. When we connect with others who hold space for us, it makes the world feel less heavy.
Finally, I pause to reconnect with my intuition. When I’m overwhelmed, the last thing I need is to keep pushing forward. I need less pressure. Instead, I slow down, tune in, and let my inner wisdom guide me. Whether it’s lighting a candle, sitting in stillness, or performing a small ritual, these moments of reflection center me and remind me that I don’t need to have all the answers right away. Rituals, simple actions that ground me in the present, help me trust that clarity will come in time.
Overwhelm doesn’t always need to be solved; sometimes, it just needs to be witnessed. When I meet it with breath, movement, grace, or stillness, I soften its edge. I come back to what anchors me: the rhythms of my body, the quiet of the earth, and the trust that I don’t need to see the whole path to take the first step. Presence, I’ve learned, is its own kind of guidance. And from that place- grounded, open, attuned- I return to my soul business. Consider this, instead of trying to escape your emotions, transmute them into something meaningful, beautiful, and true.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://AnchoredRootsStore.etsy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_anchored.roots_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peaceloveanchor/
- Other: Step into your power with my workshop on Ko-fi:
https://ko-fi.com/anchoredroots
Image Credits
Bianca Russo
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