Misty Kiwak Jacobs, MDiv
Pushcart Prize nominated essayist and graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Yale Divinity School, I am a purveyor of aggressive Russian hospitality, devotee of thank you notes, silence and dogs and very slow reader of books. Snipped to bits by a narcissistic mother, patched back together by a beneficent father, I record lucid observations and apply a little faulty reasoning.
My work has appeared in The Sarah Lawrence Review, Red Rock Review, When One Door Closes, Thought Catalog, The Arizona Literary Magazine, Minerva Rising, the Yale Divinity School Letters Journal and Earth and Altar. My poem “Presence” placed 3rd in the 2002 Tucson Poetry Festival Statewide Contest judged by Pulitzer Prize winner, Gary Snyder. My essay, “Please Eat the Lunch When I’m Dead” was given the Editor’s Best Pick Discover Award for excellent writing on WordPress.
Currently I am pursuing an STM (Sacred Theology Master’s) in Homiletics and am a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church.
A Word, Please. . . 
I’m a purveyor of aggressive Czech hospitality. And great lover of silence. Thanks for following me on Cold, btw.
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Thank you for the thank you. Your writing is beautiful and sets the bar very high.
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I found your site posted on a depression, suicide prevention site and really loved your posts for the month of November. I think i’ll take some time on the weekend to read some more. I have attempted to start my own blog about a week ago and would be curious to know what you think of it. I’m not an accomplished writer like yourself, but I do have a little over 50yrs of experience with depression and wanted to create something to give people hope that depression, tho debilitating, can be lived with and life enjoyed in spite of it. Any way, thank you for sharing your thoughts. You can check out my blog at:
jabeau2015.blogspot.ca
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Thanks for reading and for commenting. I will pop by and take a look.
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I like your blog.
And I like this line: “I record lucid observations and apply a little faulty reasoning”
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Thanks. I like the title of your blog. It reminds me of another, “Sorry for the Blog Post.” We’re all just adding to the clutter, one post at a time. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
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Hi Misty, I found your amazing blog while looking for other aspiring memoir writers. It sounds like we’re in the same agent-searching stage right now. Just wondering if you need a beta reader for your manuscript? I’ve done a lot of beta-ing and your book sounds really interesting. I don’t need reciprocation – just hoping to help if I can. In any case, I love the blog!
-Kerri
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That is a very kind offer. Let’s talk more. I friended you on FB. Thanks for the kind words about the blog…
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Misty, I just found your blog as it was posted by a member in a NM FB group. Would love to talk with you about your book as I struggle with very slowly writing my memoir about growing up in a home with a NM. PS, I love what I have read so far. (The three part “Escaping Your Mother”) was brilliantly written. Thank you for that.
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Hi Tricia, Thanks for your kind words. Would love to talk to you about your book. I’m in the process of rewriting mine after some beta readers looked at it. Let me know if I can help.
Be well!
Misty
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Misty I am so happy to have found your site. I could have written the Clean Your Own House article because it is my life too. Thank You, Bonnie Dulong
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Very glad I stumbled upon your blog. Your posts on a narcasist mother really have helped me. I am contemplating going no contact with mine, after this Christmas. I’ve always thought she’s had multiple personalities and maybe she does, but reading about NPD, she checks all the boxes and more!! Thankyou for all your writings!
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Thanks for your comment. I hope you have someone in your corner, a counselor or clergy person or mentor, who can help you make the decisions that are right for you. Thanks for reading and be well!
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Beautiful work, Misty. Thank you for visiting my cyber-garden, Sophia’s Children, and including an excerpt in a recent post. I appreciate finding my way to your writings as well. Blessings, Jamie
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Thanks for sharing your wisdom. 🙂
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Pingback: The Failure Resumé: Shattering the Carefully Curated Life – A Word, Please. . .
Misty,
Saw your poem on Earth and Altar!
So happy more of the world gets to discover your work!!!
God bless your gifts and to those who receive it!
Peace from God,
-Chris, from your small group discernment 🙂
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Thanks, Chris! It was so nice of Craig to share it will everyone.
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Hi Misty, I stumbled across your website looking for wisdom on the Fourth Commandment and narcissistic parents. Then I stayed reading your sermons and essays and loved so much seeing your love of Christ and your welcoming of faith for people who are LGBTQ, neurodiverse or others who often get pushed to the margins of the church or out of it completely. I’m a recent Catholic convert who loves the faith and the sacraments of Catholicism but often finds the conservative social stances of the church confusing, a bit painful and apparently at odds with the teachings of Christ and my own heart. I also love poetry and writing (my bookshelves contain, among other things, the Catholic Catechism, poems by Seamus Heaney, and books on personality disorders/mental health, so you can see how delighted I am to find your blog).
I see you haven’t posted since June, and reading about your chaplaincy and studies provides some pretty obvious explanations as to why. I just wanted to let you know that on a Saturday morning in Colorado, preparing for an examination of conscience, recovering from covid and feeling the weight of the world, you’ve brought me some spiritual peace and a feeling of belonging. Thank you!
You and your chaplaincy will be in my prayers. Keep writing and take care of yourself.
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Hi Rosie, Thanks for your kind comment and for reading my blog. I’m grateful, too, for your recovery from Covid and for your love of Christ. I relate to your pain and confusion regarding Catholic teaching and conservative Catholic practice. I will hold you in prayer as you learn to navigate these contradictions. In the end, God is God and God is Good.
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Just finished reading “Blackberries.” Your writing style is so poetic. I’d love to read that as a poem or more of your work. Simple beautiful. Thank you for sharing BB with us all.
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Thank you.
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