Jada John
What are your thoughts:
On how a woosah plan can be beneficial for creatives who suffer from the challenges of juggling multiple projects at once
A woosah plan is not only beneficial for creatives, it can be said its essential. Oftentimes when we juggle too many things at once, something falls through the cracks. Taking a break to woosah can bring clarity to things. When juggling multiple projects try to prioritize what needs to be done. This will make everything seem a lot more manageable if you know you have more time, some things that aren’t as pressing. Also, breaks are ok! Our generation gets so caught up in the hustle that we don’t let ourselves relax. Brains are a muscle and have to rest to be at its optimum.
On the moment she realized that art can be a form of empowerment and why it is something our community needs
I knew that art could be a form of empowerment when I realized that our people have always used their art to show their strengths and even express their weaknesses. R&B is a perfect example of that. We all have that one song that can come on and automatically put a battery in your back and make you feel invincible. I knew it was something our community needed because as a people we oftentimes don’t have the language or privilege to express our hurt and traumas. From that Purple Sailor was born. Art can show things that we didn’t even know were there.
On what a safe space looks like, particularly for Black people
A safe space is simply where a group of people, or even just two people, can come together and be an authentic vulnerable version of themselves without fear of judgment. For black people, this is really essential to our journey. Safe spaces for black people simply need to be black as hell and unapologetic about it. A place where although everyone’s path is different, there is a shared understanding and empathy that we are all trying to heal from a society that doesn’t want us to thrive.
On artists creating from a place from trauma and how we can move away from the idea that in order to be creative we must go through something traumatic (ie. The Mary J Blige Syndrome)
It is often said that there is beauty in every tragedy, now this may be true, but why not see the beauty in beauty itself. Artists tend to use their art as a form of therapy. It’s how many can express an emotion that they may not even have the words to describe. But what artists need to do is try to shift their perspective. You can create content that celebrates the positives in life, which can also be a form of empowerment. Being able to see past our traumas is the first in healing.
On the self-fulfillment that comes from doing work that directly touches our community
Our community is the last to be thought about when it comes to mental health. I realized that it wasn’t that our people didn’t want counseling or therapy, it was that we needed our sessions to not look like the typical lay on a couch and talk. We needed our own little spin on it. Being able to figure out what that formula was, gave me a tremendous about of self-fulfillment. I know that I’m offering a service that is helping people that never thought that the help could even exist. As a black woman, I see what we deal with and I know that we need to see ourselves in our healers to truly receive the help.
On the weight that black women carry having to balance taking care of themselves while taking care of everybody else
Black women have been conditioned to be the caretakers of those around us. Be it within our personal or professional lives we feel as though we have to Superwoman and be everything for everyone around us. Which leads to the question, who takes care of the black woman? Self-care has to be the priority. You can not pour from an empty cup. The first step in tipping the balance back to even is to understand that we can not do it all. Also, there is so much empowerment in simply setting boundaries and saying no. It won’t happen overnight but start by simply saying no to one thing and building from there. Sometimes taking care of people is forcing them to figure things out on their own.