10 Years....Ok, Be Patient with me

A recap of the last 10 years...

10 years!!! 10 YEARS!!! Is there enough explanation marks to mark the monumental decade of not posting a single blog..and looking at the last post…the date must have been pretty tragic however I’m a busy mother now with a full-time job (which is super unordinary), and I am absolutely soaking in every single moment of this life until I’m too old, too busy, or Rokit’s too old to hug his mummy.

My god, what has happened in 10 years? It’s only fitting that I start this little blog up again before I head into the next stage of my life as a married mother!!

Did my 10-years-younger self hear me correctly?

Yes, Jamie – you are in fact a mother of a son called Rokit (we’ll get to the reason for the name), and you met a beautiful boy from south of the river (don’t hate me…). North Londoners and South Londoners have this secret war between them.

And you’ve been together since 2016. Well, 2017 – because he had a wobbly (like most men do at the age where they say, “Shit, am I ready to settle down? NO, NOT YET!!”)

Guys, I actually can’t believe I found this blog and that I’m restarting it again. When I sat down with my amazing friends and agents, they mentioned I should start a blog with my travels. And I said, “Hey, which one should I join?” They said Substack or Wordpress, and the light bulb BLEW UP into a flaming “OMG I HAD ONE IN MY TWENTIES!”

A lot has happened since then so forgive me for not remembering, but damn I wrote some great sh*t – and I’m sure I wrote a lot of crap too. But that last post was pretty good. However, we need to change the name because I’m no longer a twenty-something hunnie that’s single.

I’m a fiancée, who’s a mother, who’s also an international DJ… and I’ve got a lot to say because this industry is WILD.

What’s changed other than all of the above? Well, my opinion is definitely stronger – no doubt about it. I’m probably a worse writer due to not doing it for 10 years and just doing manifestation journals instead. “If I have to write ‘I am a talented, in-demand, beautiful woman’ one more time…”

So here we are.

I’m writing this on a job to Mexico, literally in the sky. Over the years, I’ve got better at flying. I was ok, and then I had a fear for a while that I just had to shake – like the fear of performing that I once had. And I actually think I still do, especially when you put me in the spotlight and I have to use my vocal cords. Damn that girl band… I still have the invisible scars that are very much present when thrown the opportunity to sing.

And then one day I just said to myself: “If I want to see the world, I must embrace the flying.”
Since then, I’m pretty much been away every weekend – and honestly, it’s a beautiful accident.
The whole thing is.
The meeting Barney thing.
The having a baby thing.
The career thing.

So again, the question rises: What have you missed?

I feel like I’m gonna have to write for a whole year to get you caught up. But yes – I started to DJ after dating a DJ who literally broke my heart, shattered it to pieces (I think you already knew that)… but then I got the best career out of it.

I moved to Australia with my brother, then moved back home after my laptop broke and I couldn’t afford to stay (Australia ain’t cheap). Then I got a PR agent, and the rest is history because on August 16th, 2016, I met Barney Banks.

He, unlike me, is not that open with personal stuff. It took me a year before I saw the guy pee. And I come from a naked family. Eight years on, and into our ninth year, he still shouts at me when I poo with the door open.
(Too much information?)
Ok ok. But seriously – we are the perfect match, yet utterly different in every way.
And my best mate met him before I did and announced she’d met my future husband… so at our engagement party, I had to make her do a speech – it was the only right thing to do.

And I’d never been with a working model a working any one in this freelance world, we were all just self proclaimed entrepreneurs trying to keep our head above water…with big dreams and hears a guy i’m meeting who actually books Jobs, And it was so damn sexy and inspirational. Barney was a successful self-employed model with a background doing jobs like Uniqlo, Asos, Reiss, Moss Boss and he still had another completely different passion to present e-sports (a term that very much hadn’t been created yet), and I was a 20-something DJ, ex-singer, playing clubs in London.

I remember his mates had a nickname for me, and no, it’s nothing fancy like “Mr Big.” Just “The DJ.”
“How’s The DJ?”
“Are you dating The DJ?”
To be fair, he couldn’t nickname me JL – because low and behold, his ex’s initials and nickname were… yes, you guessed it… J f*ckin’ El. Of course.

So the minute I told him that, he panicked and said things had to change. And that’s when Jayli was born.

No, I’m not giving Barney all the credit – but he helped.
And after a DJ agent once called me a country-and-western singer with a name like Jamie-Lisa, I shortened it to Jayli.

And the DJ name was born.

So I guess we’ve got a lot to get through and you all have busy lives. But if you’re new here, welcome. And I apologise for anything I once said 10 years ago. Maybe I need to vet what I said with an AI tool.

And yes….mad to think I wrote this with no AI, no ChatGPT, just me and my phone on a train.

We’ve got a wedding to plan.

And the diary doesn’t look empty, but i’m glad your hear for the ride

Welcome back to The Jagged Life of a DJ in the Jungle – the therapy diary, the offload of chaos, the working mum DJ diary…

Ok, we need to work on the name.
But I’m liking this beginning.

So thanks. :)

Let’s hope we get like 4 more followers this time with this blog(And no mum you don’t count)… so share it, and be inspired. Because I’ve got a lot to say – and maybe 10% of it will be that one thing that turns your day the right way. My goal is for you to walk away with a smile on your face as life can be hard so I hope this brings a little bit of positivity and light your way…

And like the old days, we always end with a quote.

One that resonates with me most is something the Buddha said:

“Three things matter most in life: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

Love,
Jayli 🤍