I was born Jasmyn Adina Simone Gibbons. Jasmyn was given to me by my father. Adina came from my late grandmother and Simone is from my late great grandma, both on my mom’s side. We have a long tradition in our family to pass on grandparents’ names. I have always felt the depth and blessing of sharing their names. Gibbons is my father's family name.
I got married in 2007 and took my new husband's name, making me then Jasmyn Adina Simone Fyffe. I got married weeks before I started my career as an independent dance artist, so when I started my career, I became known in the industry as Jasmyn Fyffe. A year after founding my dance company “As the Spirit Moves”, I changed the name to “Jasmyn Fyffe Dance" and once I did that, I was able to start establishing my name and creating some buzz for myself and my work.
I left my now ex-husband in 2012. It was a frantic time. I was in the thick of establishing my name as an artist in the industry and also navigating co-parenting between two homes and being a single mama. I was NOT AT ALL thinking about changing my name at that time. The years between 2012 and 2014 were a blur for me. I was working to stay alive and survive all the shifts I was experiencing.
Around the years 2014 and 2015, I remember a few friends asking me about my name. They knew that Fyffe was my married name and it had been a few years since my divorce, so they wondered why I hadn’t changed it. At that time, it was not important to me. I accepted Jasmyn Fyffe as my name and I was not feeling that deep association to my ex through the name. The name was mine.
A shift began to stir within me about two years ago. When people would call me Fyffe, my body would react in the most unusual and uncomfortable ways. I was listening to my body and mind but didn't have a name in mind as my name was wrapped into my identity. Would I go back to Gibbons? I digested this thought over and over again and I couldn't ignore the fact that both Fyffe and Gibbons were plantation owner names. I did not want to have a plantation owner’s name as my name. Bun Dat!
I realized I didn't want to have a last name at all.
Around the same time, I started introducing myself as Jaz instead of Jasmyn and I really began to love this. Something was changing on the inside. I felt so different when people would call me Jaz, not because I hate Jasmyn but because that’s what I'd asked to be called.
There is power in naming oneself and choosing how we want to be addressed. When I made the choice to change my name to Fyffe I was following tradition that I was taught. It was not a choice I made. Choosing to remove this name from my name is a move in service to, and in recognition of both internal and external transformation. A name is more than just a name.
So where did Fairy come from? Over the years, friends and other people would call me a free spirit, a light worker, and a healer. I was improvising dance at an event in 2015 and my girl Caldeira, herself a deeply spiritual artist and light worker came up to me and said, “Yo Jasmyn, you’re a Fairy yo. You are magick!” Her words and affirmation were the catalyst for Fairy J which I thought would be my artist name at the time. But since then, I have understood that my life practice is my art practice is my healing practice is my work. I embody the name itself in my day to day life.
When we grow and expand, we change. And when we change, we reflect the new energy that we attract. Whatever comes with our shift and change, the way we move through the world changes and the way the world views us will also change as a result.
I am the change I wish to see in this world. I have transformed my pain into power and pleasure. I have deepened my relationship with myself and I trust in the continued guidance of my soul, spirit, ancestors and the universe. I have healed and will continue the process of levelling UP!
Nothing happens before its time and I believe in divine timing.
So at this divine time,
allow me to reintroduce myself.
I am Jaz/Fairy J. Full name: Jaz/Fairy J Adina Simone :)
I will continue to Dream, Create and Manifest the life that I want for myself and lead by example in the hopes that you will do the same.