We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jamison Fox a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jamison, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
It’s funny, the other day I was playing the card game “We’re Not Really Strangers” and I picked a Level 3 card that said something along the lines of “Does everyone have a calling? Do you think I’ve found mine?”. Everyone in the room (there were 6 of us including myself), answered the question. Only one person in that room knew me well and I answered it last. I think calling and purpose are pretty much synonymous. My answer was that my calling, or purpose, found me. I know this because it was something I naturally decided that I wanted to do at around age 13 without any rhyme or reason, and when I took a year off from it two years ago, I was lost.
In middle school, I had an older band teacher who got frustrated and yelled often, so why would I want to do his job? I can’t tell you, but my mom can. She told me that in pre-school I would boss around my teachers and they told her I would be a teacher one day. Sounds like me. And turns out they were right. I also think my purpose and calling are not finished evolving. I am an educator of many kinds and that’s what fills me up at the end of the day. I know it’s my purpose because I share knowledge freely, often with more patience than I have for anything else, and expect nothing in return. It brings out my best qualities. And even more honorable than that, I still have past students who keep in touch or seek me out and remind me of the impact I’ve made on them. Nothing compares to that.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
First and foremost, I am myself. What I do, isn’t who I am, but it does shape my life in a lot of ways. I am more times than not, surrounded by music. I teach middle school music full time. I also work in the music industry as a songwriter, mentor, and artist, and am a certified music therapist (MT-BC).
Right now, I am most excited about where I’m at in my life’s journey. I’ve reconnected with my authentic self both as a teacher and a creative. In a lot of ways, I’ve come full circle back to all things that at the time I felt like needed more excitement and so I diverged in pursuit of finding something “better”. I wanted to be doing the things someone else was doing because they were having the success I desired.
I’ve learned that that’s not how life works. You can work hard at something that’s not meant for you in the same way that salmon swim upstream. Going against your own grain. A form of self sabotage and greed if you don’t take the time to truly get to know yourself and your skill set. I feel lucky to have discovered and been guided to that knowledge sooner rather than later. To be fair, I wouldn’t have figured that out had I not made the choice to leave what I was doing and follow what I thought my heart wanted. But purpose and passion do not always look the same. I think I’ve finally struck the balance of living my purpose (teaching and facilitating community and connections) while making time for my passion (creating music).
I am finishing up my collaborative pop project chapter to share some really raw material in my own voice again; songs I’ve been crafting over the last 8 months. And you never know, it’s possible for anything to resurface again as long as it’s authentic and unforced. I also plan to start my own writer’s round here in Nashville as well as my own podcast. I am open to all possibilities and opportunities!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three most important qualities that were most impactful in my journey were and still are: Authenticity, Knowledge-Seeking, and Intention. If you are living as anyone but yourself, you’re already compromising everything you want and/or are working towards. You will invite and attract the wrong energy, people, and opportunities into your space. Your art will look and sound different. Maybe it’s great, but it’s still not you. Everything in your life is a reflection of how authentic you are being to your truest self. It is easy to get lost in a world full of influences. You must really learn and stick to who you are and often we know very early on in our lives. Get in touch with your younger self; kids don’t lie about that kinda stuff. You only get to be yourself once.
I put knowledge-seeking as my second quality because without knowledge and education of anything I wanted to pursue successfully, I was taken advantage of or generally lacked what I needed to know to level up. If you want to learn to paint, you take classes or get a teacher, or read a book or watch tutorials. Knowledge is not a guessing game, although you often learn from your mistakes and missteps. They say knowledge is power and it’s true. Not power in the sense of taking over the world, but in the sense of being informed and making decisions that make sense with your goals. I wouldn’t be a good teacher, songwriter, friend, or anything else if I just winged it all the time.
Lastly, the third quality is intention. Intention has changed everything about my life. Really digging deep into the “why” I am doing something has opened my eyes in so many ways, both personally and professionally. Why am I teaching my students this? Why am I reaching for more chocolate after a hard day? Why do I want to be connected with this person? Why am I saying what I’m saying? Why am I doing what I’m doing? When my intention is pure and leads with love, I reap all sorts of beautiful things and I feel good about my decisions. In moments of hesitation, I pause and ask myself “why?” before I make a move. It’s a game changer!
“The power of intention is the power to manifest, to create, to live a life of unlimited abundance, and to attract into your life the right people at the right moments.”
-Wayne Dyer
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
My biggest area of growth/improvement in the past 12 months has been shedding the person I was holding onto, all the ego-fueled habits I thought were actually serving me, to let the kind, caring, generous person I am deep down show through. I’ve come to realize this will be a life-long journey, but I couldn’t have done it without community, support, and like-minded individuals who are now some of my closest friends. And God. I was truly blessed at the right time to be shown a different way of living via a 12 step recovery program. I guess it’s still kind of taboo and stigmatized to talk about, but every day I work to live in faith over fear. The amount of growth I’ve experienced in the past year is worth sharing this personal, yet sacred information, and I hope this inspires someone who is struggling or searching for a better way just like me. If you are, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamjamisonmusic/
- Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/2WtpbEiC90cYpMMHJpIDD7?si=ZNRq03GLTYiLXQqpaU3PSw Email – jamisoncfox@gmail.com
Image Credits
Feature photo, donut, and demin photos – Brittany Lane Live playing guitar at the venue – Chelsea Erica Smith
