An Open Letter to Myself: On Signing My Name Into the World

Dear Self,

There is a certain power in signing your name at the bottom of a page. It is a declaration that says, This is me. No edits. No erasures.

For years, you have signed your name on the usual things: contracts, bills, mortgage checks, immigration papers, bank forms, tax documents, and the school forms you almost forgot. Each signature proved you were responsible, capable, dependable. But today, you are signing it for something different. You are signing it for you.

Because let’s be honest. For a long time, you’ve been the woman who signs for everyone else. The eldest daughter who signed responsibility papers before she was ready. The mama who signs enrollment and doctor’s forms, often with a toddler tugging at her sleeve. The entrepreneur who signs invoices and client contracts, making sure everyone else gets what they need. Your name has always been tied to duty, to promises, to holding things together.

But this space, this little corner of the internet, is yours. A place to write the in-betweens. The thoughts you scribble while waiting for coffee to brew. The lessons tucked between deadlines and diaper changes. The stories that don’t always fit neatly into a résumé or a business page, but deserve to live somewhere.

You are many things: a mama, a wife, a daughter, an immigrant who learned to start over, a web designer, a dreamer, and a late-night overthinker. Some days you’ll feel like you’re juggling it all with grace. Other days you’ll be tripping over kids’ toys on the way to the laptop and wondering if reheated coffee still counts as self-care. Either way, this is you in all your imperfect, coffee-stained glory.

So why “Signed Jalyn”? Because every post here is your signature in this exact moment. Not polished. Not airbrushed. Just real. And maybe, just maybe, in sharing these words, someone out there will see a little of their own story too.

This isn’t about building the perfect blog or writing the perfect piece. It’s about finally showing up on the page, not as an obligation, not as a formality, but as yourself. A signature, not to prove responsibility, but to claim your voice.

So here is to finally putting your name on the page. Not as a formality. Not as an obligation. But as a promise to keep showing up.

Signed,
Jalyn