Meet Jess Mahogany

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jess Mahogany a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jess, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I would say I received my resiliency simply from seeking to be more resilient; from seeking to be able to move beyond things that attempted to turn me into a “quitter”. Once the seeking began, I was able to see the things that happened (as that old but true cliché goes), as things that were happening FOR me and not TO me. As I say to my clients, the benefit of certain challenges if not all of them, is that you are able to measure just how well you have advanced when it comes to mastering them. If I want to learn to have control over my anger, then I need to engage in practices that are aimed at doing that, and then I would actually have to have it tested in some way. If I am never again angered, I am not sure just how well I have learned to manage it. Same with resiliency and the myriad of other emotions we can experience that we would like to have more control over. Ask for it, and that act alone can begin to shift the way you view the events that threaten said resilience. Once I was able to see events more so in the light of being FOR me, the power that undesirable outcomes once held, was reduced.
Secondly, the resilience was further built upon by acting on the smallest of inclinations to do one thing – Dust myself off and try again. Anytime I would get that urge, I would act on it and see where it took me, and this primed the mind and body to be use to trying again; to get used to “getting back up” and showing whatever opposition attempted to rise that it is just another construct that is at my whim. It – and that is anything that threatens my journey – only lives if I give life to it.

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?

Well, in short I am an artistic healing entrepreneur in that I am focused on the entertaining aspects of my career, while blending everything in the bowl of mental health improvement. The main focus of that line of work rests currently in the acting arena where I truly seek to bring art to life in a way that touches every sense and emotion possible. Film (and theater) does that for me in a way that my energy gravitates to, therefore, that is what I aim to include as an ongoing aspect of this life’s journey. In addition to this would be spoken word engagements in which I also am blessed to be able to uplift a room of people with messages that speak to them in ways that are better understood artistically.
Healing on any level is a necessary tenet of life and what drew me into the field of mental health, and healing is found greatly in part due to artistic endeavors. There are many ways to remind yourself that you are a powerful creator and art is at the top of that list. So, I aim to curate shows and characters within my work that brings healing to the screen or the room, and that can be through drama, comedy, sci-fi or any other genre, but certainly through the powerful presence of purpose – which we all have.
I aim to keep using my voice to help those who wish to ascend beyond the narrative of the pain, and that is the energy that goes into all of my work no matter if in the creative or mental health field as a therapist. I also create custom resin art to serve as tangible reminders of the messages I wish to spread – which is that we are all uniquely made, and no matter how similar we have the potential to become, that is not the goal. It is unique expression of your talents and skills that are powered out of love, which then makes room for the unique expression of the masses. That’s what I feel is most exciting and special about what I do.

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?

1. Knowing that the more you know, the more you should know that – you don’t know. Honestly, I can stop here because this alone can help a lot of people. Often times we get to a point of our experiences, especially in those that present as the most common – and think that we have such a wealth of knowledge that we know enough to justify certain views or actions. We get to a point where we think we actually know what it means to be married, to be in love, to be a “good” person or a “bad” person, to know every intent of those around us or to even know what it means to be human. But, the more you actually gain knowledge of how deep our methods of operation extend, you see the uniqueness in every iteration of a being, and so even when someone is operating in a fashion you have seen so often you think you can name it better than you can name yourself, I hope the knowledge is teaching you to think again, and then again. I once made a statement that even if we could pinpoint the person on this planet with the most knowledge of all, they would not be more knowledgeable than a rock. The rock, any rock, is likely more connected to their essence than all of the humans on the planet; and that many people being in the dark about their own true self means that no-one has all of the necessary knowledge on a moment by moment basis to be truly in the know about the motivations of every action (which tends to create/change our views of said action). But, due to concepts such as confirmation bias or the Dunning-Kruger effect, many operate as if they do “know it all”, creating conflict in situations where silence would be much more beneficial. So, always leaving room for the possibility that even your highest level of knowledge about any given situation can possibly be expounded upon, could resolve a lot of issues surrounding inevitable, different perspectives.

2. Going within. You can look at this in many ways but the most common way these days is through that cute little term called meditation. I love this tool, but the more you do it, the more you realize, it is just that – a tool. A tool to help you connect with self and remind you of where to seek the answer to all of your questions. We are so afraid of those answers because usually they lead us away from the practice of “group think”, which tricks us into fearing we could end up alone if not sharing in the consciousness of the majority. Oddly enough, the benefits of meditation has been proven ten fold, and when one really gets to that state of mindful meditation – these very concerns are addressed. The issue lies in not being able to maintain that state of assuredness when coming out of meditation.
So. going within is not just a practice in which we use a tool for, because when we are not in use of the tool, we forget to still take the action of going within when it matters most. And when is that, you ask? All of the time. The aim of meditation should be to make it a state of being – and not something that requires you to take yourself away from the world just to be re-membered to the state of being that is peace. When using the tool of meditation, it could be with the aim of elongating that practice well beyond the opening of the eyes and into the going of the day, where you can still operating from that place of peace despite being in a world that reciprocates lower vibrations. Here is how we take the stance of being IN this world, and not OF it. This is most certainly a difficult challenge and not one that I have mastered in totality, but making that the goal of the regular practice would be beneficial to most, in my mind.

3. Challenge yourself. When you have a view, any view – that is so strong you just do not see any other view being greater than yours, then use the strength of your belief to allow you to entertain some others. What I mean is, if the view of that thing – whatever it is – is so strong within you – then no other views should be more powerful than the one you hold. No other view should be a threat. And, if they are not a threat, then try setting your views down on a shelf for a little bit – You can even still sit it on the proverbial top shelf if you would like – while you consider, ponder, assess different options. No one is telling you that you will ever have to trade your view, but now you can expand yourself, your knowledge, wisdom and reach by allowing your mind and body to be stretched in regards to what it can access and draw near. See, sometimes we want to grow, but do not realize that it is in the innocent ways in which we think that holds up back.
It can be so innocent as to say something like, “I believe all _______ are bad people” (Or good people, because that can be an issue as well seeing as how your construct of a good person automatically creates what a bad person is, and without realizing it, you have created an energy within self that will react negatively to what you oppose as a good person, whether the person you deem as “bad” knows or not. Thus, you have only guaranteed the act of hurting self by having to feel and calibrate the body to a construct of automated disgust) – but once you create that thought, which will now dictate your behavior, take all of the justification that you feel for that thought and stand on it. See if it is SO strong that you can actually take some time to consider other alternatives without feeling threatened by them. Just, try it. Even if you do not change your mind about your stance – you will have changed. And there you will find growth; just like that!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Wow, this was a hard question to choose out of all of the other provoking questions posed, but I chose this one because I believe through collaboration we are better able to heal societal wounds and open ourselves up to alternative perspectives. Perspectives that will grow us through the act of challenging us all while connecting us to people and places that are meant to unlock the unknown within. If all we wanted to do or be with, was all we’ve ever done or been with, then we are asking to stand in one spot and move in a circle. We are speaking of caging our energy, except without bars, chains or confinement of any kind aside from the mindset of separateness. But, as I am learning, it is as One – We will. To me this means that if the individual can see other individuals as aspects of self – just as the body itself has many different parts that make up the whole – the impact would be one that is sustaining. So I want to work with people who knows the strengths of our differences and want to bring awareness to the world regarding what happens when we see our differences as what they are. Not something to use as comparisons, but as perspectives to complete the puzzle. People who would be willing to undress the veils of the identities that trigger them and then create movies, music,….artistic magic of any kind that is meant to elevate the mind to a consciousness that is above the narrative of our worth being defined by dividing constructs as opposed to our simple and pure, presence. Those who wish to collab can connect with me through my Instagram or Facebook page as the best initial form of contact – the handle is Jess Mahogany for both.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jessmahogany.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessmahogany/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessMahoganyBlog

Image Credits

Jess Mahogany
Amber Cunningham
We Go Live