Hey fam! It’s been a while since I’ve written to you on this platform and I am so eternally grateful you are back to support me. Today, I start another journey around the sun and gifted myself (and YOU) the relaunch of my website.

I wrote so many varied drafts about my return. Questioning myself on how I should present my thoughts. Should it be a quick post? Maybe a short story? Should it be personal or more professionally cryptic? I’ve never been the type of person to half-ass anything. It’s either I’m doing it or I’m not. Those that know me personally, know that I’m passionate about my beliefs and my dreams. For those that have been privy to follow my journey on the blog and my social networks, they know that I am authentic, transparent and vulnerably honest.

I wish I could tell you in one entry all that I’ve experienced and learned over the last few years, but I figured I’d break it down over the next few months and years to come. So you’ve got more reasons to keep logging on daily because you never know what I’m going to publish on any given day! In the meantime, I’ve encapsulated some of the major takeaways from my life.

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”  – Jack Canfield 

Are you super fearless and can conquer everything and anything? I’m not. I mean, I’ve struggled with the thought that I can conquer anything and for the most part I have accomplished most things I’ve put my mind to, but many times my mind would play tricks on me and cripple me with fearful thoughts of why not to do what I know I’m capable of. What if… They would… You can’t… Your past… Who do you think you are? I have spent years working on my mental pathology, realizing that these thoughts stem from trauma I’ve endured as a child and words spoken to that little girl. Over the last few years, I have reverted to the fearlessness (not carelessness) I had as a teen – the one that came to the U.S. with nowhere to stay and just $75 and MADE SHIT HAPPEN! You see, for some time now, I’ve been reconditioning my mind to think positively, do positive things, speak positively, live a positive life. Has it been easy? Listen! There have been times when my positive speaking turned to a sweet Trini cuss out. When positive actions turned into angry outbursts that was jail-worthy. When all the positive and powerful facts I know about my greatness battled hard to quiet the noises of indecision, indifference and incapability.

“It’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.” – Ellen DeGeneres

Fear of success is a real thing. Especially when you’re a creative that has spent a lot of time trying to please others…to make others happy.

But listen here…I COME FIRST.

Mental Health Awareness Month: 12 Ways I Manage My Depression

This past year I have fully come into my womanhood on a level that can’t be shaken. My foundation has been repaired and stronger than ever. My heart is mine. My peace is secured. My life is healed. My dreams are alive. My future is still bright with limitless possibilities. And for the first time, I am in love…with myself. This year I learned I had to be selfish in order to be selfless.

Self care. Self esteem. Self preservation. Self love.

I can’t pour into you if I’m depleted. I can’t love you if I don’t love myself. I can’t teach or be an inspiration if I haven’t learned my lessons and done my work.

I’ve been doing my work. Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s the most difficult gut-wrenching, can’t-get-out-of-bed experience. Sometimes it’s a dirty, filthy, lonely, painful, tiresome work. But fam, it’s a rewarding work.

“True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” – Oprah Winfrey

The last few years have been a rollercoaster ride of life. A ride I am eternally grateful to still be on, as I experienced all the highs and lows, plateaus and peaks, losses and victories that make it a riveting best-selling novel that one day you’ll be eager to read. This period has allowed me the space and uninterrupted time to experience every emotion of my life and truly live and learn.

What have I learned?

I have unconsciously been living the law of attraction for most of my life. Above all the lessons I have learned this is the one that has left the most indelible mark on my being. Law of attraction – negative or positive – based on our thoughts. Whatever you believe of yourself, you will live it, whatever you say of yourself, it is true. What say you of you?

Are you a quitter? Are you a nobody? Are you too old? Are you too late? Are you hopeless? Is this how you will always be? Will things never change?

 “The Only Thing I Know For Sure Is That I Know Nothing At All, For Sure.” – Socrate

So many of us are juggling work, relationships and finding our purpose or functioning in our higher calling – trying to live our best lives, while trying to take care of ourselves, our children, our loved ones. A lot of us are dealing with issues that we would never share; balancing our finances, being the savior for everyone else’s issues and often times neglecting our own. Our Caribbean community is surviving past generational traumas while dealing with Trump and his racist immigration policies. Some of us barely making it by, while some of us are learning the stock game and making sound investments just to break the generational curse of poverty.

PEACE OF MIND IS THE REAL BAG

Leaving stagnant, unhealthy, toxic and dead relationships, jobs and situations brings you temporary discomfort and pain but long term peace. I have given a lot of people their walking papers and my life has been abundantly peaceful and lighter. My focus is sharper, my smile is wider and my bank account is heavier! Even the richest, most talented and most popular people have no peace. You can’t buy peace – you have to put in work for peace! You have to eliminate the unnecessary and often times the things, people and circumstances you’ve grown accustomed to for peace. I choose peace over money any day. (Just know that prosperity and money are not mutually exclusive.) If I choose to not publish on the site for a day or two, then best believe, my peace will always win. But I promise I’ll be right back!

LIVING MY BEST LIFE

I have chosen to live my best life. It’s actually pretty easy to do when you’ve eliminated stress and acquired real peace. I enjoy having fun dates with myself, spending invaluable time with my loved ones and just doing things that really make JAY happy. However you deem “living your best life,” do those things!!! I always say, don’t stress over shit that people will have to figure out on their own, if you died tomorrow! So take that class, make that trip, get on that cruise, climb that mountain, swim across those seas, jump out that plane, start that business, adopt that baby, write that book… You can always get money back but you can’t get back time. LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE!!!

IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS

God has really blessed me beyond measure, that sometimes I sit and weep. I could’ve been dead, should’ve been dead. Could’ve been in prison. Could’ve taken my life…but GOD. I’ve shared with my followers on IG LIVE that “A heart of gratitude is an attitude and an attitude is an energy.” What are you emitting? Back to the law of attraction… Whatever energy you are releasing you will be receiving – in one way or the other. You don’t believe in God? Well according to science, Sir Isaac Newton taught us that, ”for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Give thanks and there will always be something to be thankful for!

“What is for you is for you” -Trinidadian Proverb

JayBlessed.com will continue to be a portal for all things Caribbean. JayBlessed.com will also be my space to share my thoughts and feelings with you, and also a space for other creatives to call home. I pray that you will find entertainment, information, laughter, thought-provoking content and even healing when you visit. We will not always agree but we can find common ground for the sake of maturation and unification. I want to know your thoughts too, so leave a comment and let’s continue healthy dialogue and respectful debates on the website. I want you to know that JayBlessed.com is a place where WE can challenge paradigms, collaborate, contribute and pour back into our communities.

Before I end my rambling, (I am actually just writing, mere minutes before the site goes live) I want to encourage you with this last thought…

“Never doubt your intuition but above all, never doubt your strength. “– Jay Blessed

It would mean a lot to me if you shared your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Please check out the site, share, tweet, repost, comment, add JayBlessed.com as your homepage and turn on notifications on your social networks, so you always see when new stories are up! Since it’s launch day and my birthday, make sure to use hashtags #JAYDAY1017 and #JayBlessedReturns so I can see and repost!

…still Queen.

Welcome to the new JayBlessed.com…“A Human Experience From A Caribbean Perspective.”