Welcome To Happy Hour, The Story of A Blog
About This Space (Pivots + Iteration + Learning)
In March 2020 Coronavirus began its big sweep of the world, and with it (for most of us) came a disruption to life as we knew it. Lockdowns were in place, and the idea of public gatherings and classes became a far distant reality much quicker than anyone could have bargained for. My life and work was definitely turned upside down, and I am still finding the way to whatever the next full chapter of my story will be out of the pivots that 2020 created.
Me in 2020, literally searching for meaning lol.
When all this happened, I found myself in a search for renewed meaning. What could I possibly do, for myself, my community, my species, that would have any meaningful impact in a world thrown on its head?
The way we tell ourselves what the story of our lives is, dictates the story of our lives. Empowering yourself to remain the writer, director, and star of that narrative is what they call your hero’s journey.
I think my place in this is to get the pen back into people’s hands and help them realize that they have many ways to start and keep writing.
So I sat down and wrote myself. I listed the topics that I had been called to explore on my own journey, that helped me understand myself and my world, to heal and to grow and to connect with myself and others. I listed the topics that I knew I needed to explore to get to the next steps of my own learning, and got curious and excited to share that exploration with others.
As lockdowns continued on and quarantining became the norm, I decided to bring those topics to the table in a rotating virtual Happy Hour discussion series that I called Foundations with Jay Happy Hour.
During those virtual happy hour sessions, we jumped into a container celebrating curiosity, self awareness, and the vulnerable sharing of stories and perspectives that inspired thought, curiosity and action within the minds and hearts of our sizzling cohort. We created a space where our experiences, ideas and questions were ready to be heard and held. A space for us to actively listen, and soak up the experiences, ideas and inquiries of others. The creation of this virtual space was a pivot to preserve the preciousness of our connection during a time that made it impossible to connect in the ways we had previously become accustomed to.
In my bio I talk about the creation and evolution of the Foundations with Jay movement series, the weekly dance and personal development class that emerged from my path to stage and self in the first part of my career. Thank goodness I created a Facebook group when I started that class in early 2017, so I had access through social network to a fair portion of the people that had attended my classes and workshops over the years. That group (which still exists), became the audience for this new iteration of my Foundations work with the creation of the virtual Happy Hour.
A sign at a cafe I stopped at in Sayulita (Mexico) last year. This is the energy I am talking about! #travelmore
I decided to keep the energy of that pivot alive by titling this blog Happy Hour, to invite you into a space where my own earned knowledge, vulnerable sharing, and curiosities may still become a catalyst for your own. Because, even though it may be challenging to face head on, self-discovery (to me) is truly happy work!
My purpose is to be in service to the confidence and sensual embodiment of others as they align with the expression of their brightest selves. I see this blog as a distinguishing piece of that service, and will be continuously adding to it as I continue to stack up my own lessons and adventures in this life.
Always feel free to leave a comment on a post or use the contact page of this site for a direct channel of communication with me - I administer and maintain everything personally.