My last day as Communications Director at my 9-to-5 was August 31 and I'm overwhelmed by the support I have in this new chapter of my career given that my former employer is my first major client which provides a level of financial security where I can take such a risk. At the same time, y’all, I’m nervous.
Doing communications and narrative strategy for other organizations and companies as an employee is different than running a company. And building my business isn’t just about communications and narrative strategies for me. If you’ve followed for a while, you know that when I started Social Soundtrack, I did so to center community, storytelling, and healing across the African Diaspora through creative artivism.
Community. Coordinating Soul Care Sunday and The Write-In during quarantine and Intermissions & Interludes last year brought so much joy. We need more spaces like this that celebrate Black creatives. And we need more spaces to have vulnerable, authentic conversations with folks who look like us.
Storytelling. You likely came across this newsletter from my writing—maybe you’re an OG who followed my blog over a decade ago! I come from a long line of storytellers and enjoy cultivating space for others to grow as storytellers. I launched the Resistance & Resilience publication in 2020 to highlight our modern Black Renaissance. Our stories and perspectives matter.
Healing. Healing has been woven through everything, but I’m becoming more intentional about how this looks. This is probably the piece I’m most nervous about. I was accepted into the Somatica Institute, a year-long training program to become a sex/relationship/intimacy coach rooted in somatics.
In my 9-to-5 career, I spent so much time talking about what I’m against—gender-based violence, racial injustice, capitalism, etc. In 2018 (when Social Soundtrack originally launched as a podcast), I learned about Prevention Institute’s THRIVE Model and began considering what I’m for, not just what I’m against. My background is in music and the arts, and I began shifting my framework to design a life (& career) that stemmed from abundance. I started giving presentations around my college campus and working as an advocate at a local domestic violence shelter in 2010, and now I’m excited to soon coach people into developing a thriving and healthy intimacy practice.
There’s a lot of talk in faith spaces, social justice movements, and other circles about “deconstructing.” And while we unlearn and dismantle, it’s also incredibly important to build. What’s replacing your old norms? We can talk about what’s unhealthy and toxic all day, but what’s good? What’s healthy? What’s right for you?
I’ve been unraveling my own shame around sex, sexuality, and intimacy as a church girlie, as a survivor, as a Black woman, as a kinky person, and as someone who’s neurodivergent. And the lack of representation of coaches with my background is precisely why I’m taking this journey.
I’ve researched coaching programs rooted in somatics for about 4 years now—around the time I originally knew I was supposed to be working as my own boss and as my own somatic healing practices expanded. I hesitated to begin a program for many reasons. I was worried I’d be called a heretic, that church folks would talk about how I’ve “strayed away from truth.” I’ve been so worried about what folks would think because I’m a Church girlie, and Church girlies aren’t supposed to talk about sex, pleasure, or intimacy unless we’re married. Y’all, there are cultural and social norms about the Church that produce so much shame and are too often touted as biblical truth. I won’t get into a sermon—I could go on and on about this. But it’s difficult to live freely and joyfully when other people’s convictions about what’s right produce shame and keep us silent about basic needs like intimacy.
We were born to be free, whole, and in healthy connections with each other. And it’ll look differently for every person.
I’m eager to work with other Church girlies, survivors, queer folks, kinky people, and neurospicy humans. Because we need to develop the language around what good things we want and need from our relationships, and shame will only keep us from living as freely as we deserve.
What I’m Listening To & Reading:
This podcast on imposter syndrome as a new business owner
Men, Women, and Worthiness: The Experience of Shame and the Power of Being Enough by Brené Brown
An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created by Santi Elijah Holley
My good sis, Cleo Sol, has released yet another beautifully soulful album, Heaven. Take a listen.
For Justice & Joy,
LySaundra Janeé
P.S. I made some updates to my website, take a look!