S&S — The Wellness Code You Didn't Know You Needed
Episode 16 of Wellness Me Up — Wellness Me Up Diary Entrywith Peer Support Advocate & Author Jessica Compton
Peer support, speaking, art, journaling workshops, and now a book — Jessica Compton has been showing up for humans for almost a decade. This one is warm, real, and funny. By the end you'll have a brand new wellness code for checking in on your people. S&S. We said what we said.
🎧 Listen to the episode here:
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Who Is Jessica Compton?
Jessica and I have known each other for many many moons…years of em! We were Child and Youth Workers together wayyyyy back in the day. I've had the privilege of watching Jess grow from the already incredible human she was back then into the powerhouse she is today.
From touring cafés and sharing her story to building her company, Tree of Stars, she's been creating meaningful spaces for connection and healing every step of the way.
These days, Jess is out there landing speaking engagements, leading journal workshops, hosting mental health events with live musicians, and absolutely crushing her book tours.
I mean. Come on.
She offers peer support online and in person. She speaks. She creates art. She hires musicians for mental health events. She runs journal workshops at colleges. She goes to cafes and talks to strangers about their stories until they realize they have a book inside them too.
And she just released her book. Sixty-two pages. Quick read. Two cups of coffee. Some photography. Some art. Some real talk about old scars and the continuous healing that comes after.
She is one of my favourite humans. And this episode absolutely reflects that.
Puke the Words Out
This is Jessica's advice for anyone sitting on a story they don't know how to start.
Just puke the words out.
Open the laptop. Open the journal. Open Canva — which is actually how she got a twelve year old girl at one of her events started on her own book. The girl said she wanted to write her story one day but didn't know how. Jessica showed her the app. The next day the kid came running back saying she'd already downloaded it.
That's it. That's the whole thing. You don't have to be ready. You just have to start somewhere. Even if it's ten minutes a day and it takes you five years.
Jessica wrote her own book after her mom passed away. She took the quiet time to sit with herself and her old scars and just... started. And what came out was something she describes as dark in places but with light woven all the way through. Because that's what continuous healing looks like. Not fixed. Not finished. Just... still going.
You're Not Ready. Start Anyway.
One of the biggest things Jessica hears from people is I'm not ready yet.
And she gets it. She was there too ten years ago. But her take now is that we're never really ready. We just need to start writing. And the permission to protect the people in our story — not using family names, keeping generational trauma where it belongs which is in their own story — that removes one of the biggest barriers people have.
Her book says I have siblings. I have grandparents. They have their own story. This is mine.
That's it. Clean. Respectful. And completely hers.
She also talked about reaching out to her exes before the book came out to thank them. Not all of them were receptive. Some blocked her. And she said that's okay. Because she put her head on the pillow knowing she showed up with integrity. She did what she needed to do to be at peace.
Protect your peace. She writes it in every single book she signs.
The Awareness Accountability Acceptance Loop
I loved this moment in the conversation.
Jessica was talking about the accountability piece of going back to thank her exes and I said — that's actually three things happening at once. Awareness of where you were. Accountability for your part in it. And then acceptance that not everyone is going to receive your peace offering and that's okay.
And she just nodded like yes. That's exactly it.
Those three things together — awareness, accountability, acceptance — are such a big part of healing. And most people skip straight to acceptance without doing the first two. Or they get stuck in accountability and forget the acceptance part. Jessica does all three. Out loud. In her book. On her book tour. In cafes with strangers.
Get Off Your Phone and Into Your Life
Something Jessica kept coming back to that I want to highlight.
A lot of her work is about pulling people off their screens and into real experiences. Journal workshops at colleges where she asks students to put their phones away for an hour. Gallery hops. Photography. Painting on old records. Karaoke. Hiring musicians for mental health events so people can be in a room together feeling something.
She said sixty students put their phones down for an hour at Niagara College and nine of them shared. And from that one session she connected with a musician she might hire for an upcoming event.
That's what happens when you disconnect even briefly. You have more to say. More to give. More to discover about yourself and the people around you.
The WTF Wheel Question: What's Your Current This Counts as Self Care Thing?
Oh this one.
THE WHEEL. DELIVERED.
Jessica's answer was immediate and unapologetic and I am fully here for it.
A good sex life. That's her self care. And she said it without flinching and I completely lost it because she is absolutely right and nobody talks about it enough.
I jumped in with my own story — going over a decade without sex because it was painful before my surgery, and now being like oh THIS is why everyone is out here having all the fun. Because it IS fun. And it IS self care. And we should absolutely be talking about it.
We also decided you need a good snack afterwards. Essential. Non negotiable. Part of the wellness plan.
And that is how S&S was born. Sex and Snacks. On this podcast. On a Sunday. You're welcome.
Check in on your people. How's the S&S going? Are you getting enough S&S in your life? Do you have your S&S planned for this week?
We said what we said.
What Wellness Me Up Means to Jessica
All the things that make her feel good. Painting on old records. Karaoke. Making sure she's hydrated because she gets moody when she's not. Not being hangry. Taking a really good nap with all the pillows and the fan on.
And this one that I loved so much — instead of saying I need a minute she tells her wife I need a half hour. Because it's never a minute. Sometimes it's a day. Sometimes it's a week. Sometimes after losing someone it's a year.
Wellness me up is whatever works for you in this moment. Which might not work for someone else. Which is why keeping the conversations open and honest matters so much.
Also naps. Naps are okay. Naps are great actually. A juicy nap with all the right pillows is peak self care and we are claiming that.
Want to connect with Jessica? Jessica Compton is a peer support advocate, author, speaker, and one of the most genuinely warm humans I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She shows up for people in cafes, colleges, galleries, speaking stages, and now in the pages of her book.
👉 treeofstarsontour.com 📱 Instagram: Tree of Stars On Tour 🔍 Or just Google Jessica Compton — she's everywhere
If this one made you smile... share it with someone who needs the S&S reminder today. And subscribe to Wellness Me Up wherever you listen.
🎧 Listen to the episode here:
→ YouTube
→ Spotify
