Meet Jay

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jay. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jay below.

Jay, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I think life keeps my creativity alive. Life is the inspiration that cultivates what I express. The key for me is allowing myself to navigate through all of life’s experiences without judgement and let life itself define my creativity. What I observed in my life is that at my lowest points when I felt like it’s the wrong time to create, it essentially became the right time to create. My life experiences pushed me in a way to find alternative outlets more suitable to my mental health, emotional stability, and outlet to express how I feel. Sometimes when I’m practicing solos on the drums, I allow myself to express anything I feel. If I’m angry, I observe that I am hitting the drums in a much more finesse style. On the contrary, I may feel melancholy and I want to hear/feel the tone of the drums enough to allow them to speak to me. I consider myself a Music Enthusiast as well so I listen to various styles of music (beyond language barriers) and allow the music/energy/vibrations and words to speak to me. Listening to various styles of music drives me to be more original with my own sound and takes me back to the drawing board. It’s how I use my creativity which makes it more of a survival tactic that holds me together. I think it’s important to note that Creativity is a sole pursuit that I believe should be for our own satisfaction first. If others love/appreciate our work, it’s a plus. However, in order for us to ‘truly’ survive in our world, we must authentically connect with our Creativity for ourselves to “keep it alive”. Thereby, it becomes a healthy outlet at our disposal. We live in a society that judges our “Creativity” more than ever with the influx of our digital/social media world. On the contrary, we seek the acceptance/approval of others to define what and how we create. I see this as the equivalent of a one-sided draining relationship. It appears that we do all of the work but the lack of appreciation begins to suppress/drain our authenticity. Drowning out the noise and immersing ourselves to our own creative expression is imperative. We have choices on how we use our Creativity and whether we use it to help others or hurt others. For example, Adolf Hitler was an Artist/Painter and that was his primary passion as an adolescent. Details of his life revealed that he failed the entrance exam twice to attend The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and pursue his career as a Professional Artist. After what Hitler “perceived” to be a failing career in the Arts, he decides to enlist into the military to fight for what he believed was a good cause at the time. In a turn of events, Adolf Hitler rejects any showcases of Modern Art in Germany; He becomes the most powerful leader of the German Nazi army and uses his creative power of communication to spawn the greatest massacre in human history: The Holocaust. Am I justifying his actions? No. My point is: Our creativity is alive and well. It’s how we use it that defines us. Keeping creativity alive is a communal effort to allow authenticity to come back to the forefront. Authenticity is our liberation. Referring to creativity as a way to “keep it alive” really made me think. We use Creativity in our life one way or another and it is, in fact, a matter of Life or Death. Who I am advocates for a more authentic, personal connection with our Creativity.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

As far as my story, I’ve been on a spiritual journey since I was a child. I grew up in a firm, religious household. I left my religious upbringing rebelliously as a teen to find my own meaning in life after a huge breaking point. As I grew older. I began to take life as an experiment for me to live and understand my purpose, After certain experiences in my life such as a Marital Divorce, 2 Car Wrecks that could have ended my life (one from drunk driving and the other just merely my fault), and just living my life independently exploring our World and taking life as it is, “Lightwork” is something I’ve felt intuitively guided to pursue.

As a Creative/Lightworker, it simply means I’m someone dedicated to making a difference for myself and the lives of others through the gifts I have musically, intuitively, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. I hesitate to put myself in a box due to the mere fact that I evolve daily on a mental, emotional. and spiritual level. Through trial and error, as it relates to relationships, life experiences, and business endeavors, I’ve gathered much experience and awareness that I now use for myself and impart to others who are open to it.

I use my specific social media platforms (Instagram/Soundcloud) and music that I release independently through streaming/digital media outlets as a way to communicate the awareness of our connection to one another and how we have more in common that we would imagine.

Professionally, I’ve been focused on my artistic/creative career at this present moment. I would like to expand my creative reach as a Music Artist vocally because I think this is the best way to get my point across and it aligns with my passion. I can reach more people who are open to what I have to say and do it creatively.

I’m a Drummer/Percussionist/Lightworker/Torchbearer/Rapper/Singer/Music Producer and Astrologer. I specialize in playing drums/creating and producing music electronically and independently/communicating on life topics and providing deeper insight/discussing Astrological topics and exploring our internal relationship with ourselves as a guide to define our purpose.

What I feel most excited about is the music I’ve taken the time to create and produce vocally right now. It’s a different step for me creatively and I’m excited to share who I am with the World. It also makes me a bit nervous because there is a level of vulnerability that disrupts my introverted vibes at times. I do consider myself Ambivert though.

I had the pleasure of playing drums on a record called “Starchives” with an Artist/Producer name Delish Music on all streaming and digital media outlets.

Personally, please be on the lookout for the music I (JaytheLightworker) create/produce myself vocally. If you come across this article, you are reading this for a reason. I hope that something I’ve created connects and resonates with you in a positive way.

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?

Hmm…If I had to list three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey, it would be:

1. My early religious education was really my first moral compass. I still apply most of it to my life today.
2. Taking life as it is vs what we think it should be really changed my perspective. If I get disappointed by the truth of a situation at least I know the truth and I can now navigate my life accordingly.
3. Evolve and change as many times as we need/want to. Change has culminated a bad ‘rep’ as it relates to humans. We tend to look at change as someone reflecting a fake or ambiguous lifestyle. Here’s another perspective: Change just simply means we are becoming closer and closer to who we truly are. Whether it’s good or bad, just know it’s real.

Here is some advice I offer to myself and others who are figuring this life out.

“Force equals too much; effort equals too little; being equals enough”

We’re in this together. Let’s “be” (be who we are and what we want in the World) and everything and everyone will align. Essentially we find where we truly belong and we find our tribe.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The number one challenge I am currently facing is emotionally handling my Mother who is dealing with Dementia and my Father who has been fighting a serious major health concern (in respect to my Father’s privacy). I feel like I’m losing my Mother while she is living and I feel that to be much worse than losing someone suddenly. It feels draining at times and overwhelming to know my relationship with my mother continues to slowly dwindle. I am learning to be more present with my mother. I will admit that at times I feel reluctant to build any real conversations with my mother due to my straightforward type of personality. I struggle with “small talk” and it seems that the very thing I struggle with, I am being pushed out of my comfort zone to be present with her to do in whatever form or fashion that looks like.

At the same time, my father has been fighting a serious health concern and it just seems hopeless at times. I often get emotional about my parents situation. The constant back and forth for hospital visits have created some tension for me. It weighs down on me emotionally/mentally more than ever.

I’ve been handling my Father’s estate and will and finalizing the legal matters along with my older brother and it just feels heavy emotionally for me. Next, we will move forward to take care of my mother’s situation and get her the proper care she needs.

It is what it is.

Family and Loyalty are very important to me. Legacy is also important to me. Though I feel the burden has been heavy, I believe that I’m built to carry it alongside my older brother.

What I do to resolve or overcome this challenge? I create. During this time, I’ve used my time to create/produce my own music electronically as a means to cope. It has been a means to escape at times. It has been healing for me to express myself vocally. I am also still drumming privately and finding ways to express myself through the drums. I have become a gym rat now. I go to the gym at least 4x-5x a week. I’ve seen considerable progress on my physique since I started my exercise journey. I go to the gym, workout for 1hr 1/2 and then go to the Sauna/Steam Room to sweat/relax or get into the Jacuzzi at the gym to relax. Occasionally I get back to my yoga roots. After my marital divorce, I practiced yoga religiously everyday for a whole year to help with my anger issues/blocked energy. Every once in a while, I lay down for 10-15 min and observe my breathing and observe my body without judgement. I spend time with my siblings. They are therapy for me too. My older brother has really played a huge role in helping me navigate this life with our Father and Mother and their situations. We vent to each other and grab drinks/food. I play/compete in sport activities such as Basketball at the gym and compete against my nephews for fun etc. I take trips with my older brother and spend time with my nephews and that is therapy. We need each other to get through it all. When I’m able to, I travel and play drums with Delish Music and enjoy creating with my bandmates. All forms of therapy to help me overcome the challenges.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: JaytheLightworker
• Youtube: JaytheLightworker
• Soundcloud: JaytheLightworker
• Other: Music:
  JaytheLightworker
  Stream and Digital Media Outlet

Image Credits

Image Credits:
Mason Rice
Kalil Leach
Brock Curry