Last weekend I had the honor of reppin’ @thebigquiet for @eventbrite & Lady Gaga’s @btwfoundation #RemixerFestival at @housofyes This event was about bringing youth together to create a moment of connection & to support each other’s mental health – especially after the last few years we’ve all experienced. When I asked by a show of hands how many of the (mostly Gen Z's) had experienced some dark days during social isolation — a lot of hands shot up. When I asked how many had experienced social anxiety, just about the whole house had hands in the air. After we meditated together, I shared my story. I grew up feeling pretty isolated. When I was in high school I left home to exit an abusive situation, & spent a lot of time living out of my car, or at friends houses. I got really really *good* at being hyper independent, & developed an immense amount of social anxiety. When I moved to NYC, all that running caught up to me. I became so overwhelmed by my emotions, that I went into a depression that left me self-isolating at home. This was about 7 years ago pre-covid, & a friend dragged me to Medi Club – a meditation event founded by @jesseisrael that changed my life. I used to have so much social anxiety walking up to Medi Club, that I sometimes didn’t make it in. But I kept on showing up. It was there that I learned the power of shared experience & sharing my story – it was there that I become part of real community. I now run Medi Club, which is a sister community to @TheBigQuiet. I became pals w/ Jesse, & also found my calling of sound. I am now the Director of sound for TBQ. Before quarantine hit, Jesse & I were on a 10 city tour w/ @Oprah, facilitating meditations for sold out arenas of 15k. The day of our final stop in Denver, COVID hit. I went from being more connected to community than ever before, to alone at home again. As you can imagine, a lot came up. The sad's hit me bad. During one depressive episode on my roof, I finally made the choice to refuse to keep giving in to the pandemic story of fear, loneliness & separation. I wanted to lean into ways to create joy for myself & others. *havent done a “more in comments” in a while 🤡👇