Bailey Gillespie

As an INFJ and Enneagram 4, I’m a deep feeler. This means I can experience both joy and despair in a single afternoon. Although this may seem like a thorn in the flesh, I’m learning how to harness emotions for redemptive purposes through community and emotionally honest writing. With a background in massage therapy, I love creating nurturing, therapeutic spaces where people can rest and heal—and that’s my intention with this website.

My personal wellness journey served as a catalyst for a growing passion to see people with chronic pain and mental health issues thrive. For years, I’ve known I had some sort of hormonal imbalance. But in 2012, after a series of stress triggers, my parasympathetic nervous system took a real hit and led to some intense digestive issues. Pretty soon, I hit a season of depression reminiscent of what ancient Christians called the dark night of the soul. There were a few other situations that caused me to press into Jesus deeply, and although he didn’t say yes to all my passionate prayers, he walked alongside me and taught me courage and endurance on this “long obedience in the same direction,” as Eugene Peterson talks about in his book by the same title. These slow dances through the complexities of mental health have rooted and enriched my faith and friendships in ways that skimming by on the surface never could. So, I’m grateful. Currently, I’m working with a functional medicine doctor to untangle this web of symptoms, while still clinging to the fact that God holds the power to heal in an instant.

Recently, I got my first tattoo of the German word “sehnsucht,” which is a concept C. S. Lewis popularized in his book Surprised By Joy. It means the inconsolable longing of the human soul for a thing it cannot name—for the fulfillment of desires that cannot be quenched in this world alone. It’s evidence that we were made for another world.

Heaven. The new Eden. The redeemed earth.

This blog is for everyone, but specifically those who have hit a wall in their physical, emotional, or spiritual health journeys and need to be reminded that wholeness is a journey. You are seen. More than anything, I want to walk alongside you, offering hospitality and resources for the journey. As a writer, I hope to tell stories with emotional honesty without turning away from the truth that hurts, but pressing into it in order to heal and flourish.

Hopefully, this is a thoughtful and creative place that captures your imagination. Feel free to subscribe or follow me on Instagram.

Have a lovely day!

-Bailey