The importance of taking breaks, finding joy and shaking your booty when you feel like it with Tauri Janeé

By Lucy Ivey

Full look by SAINT ART. Gold hoops by MAISON MIRU. Gold chain by MAISON MIRU. Locket Necklace by PATTARAPHAN. Sunglasses by BONNIE CLYDE. Silver bracelet by WWW.WILLSHOTT. Two-tone link bracelet by PATTARAHAN. Shoes by LARROUDE. Socks by HAPPY SOCKS. Rings, stylist own. 

Tauri Janeé has always loved to express herself through creativity, but it wasn’t until after graduate school that she took it to a new level entirely.

“I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next but one day a friend who worked as a content creator said, ‘Hey, why don't you focus your creativity on developing inspiring content?’ I didn’t know where to start but I did know that I loved to write. So my friend suggested I share my creative writing on social media.” Since starting her career as a content creator, Janeé has amassed over 18,000 followers on Instagram. 

Janeé’s Instagram feed is full of journaling pages with elaborate doodles, colorful photos of her daily adventures, and – my personal favorite – her dancing videos. “Dance is meditative for me. When I dance, I allow myself to float freely.” As Janeé shares, it’s a common misperception that meditation takes place sitting down with your legs crossed and fingers in the air. “People can meditate while taking long walks or swimming, and for me, my meditation is dancing. In those moments I allow myself to surrender to my own movement and flow, and let my thoughts go wherever they please.” Janeé’s immense love for dance comes to life through her videos where you can feel her sense of peace and happiness. Her expression of joy is contagious and makes you want to stand up and experience it for yourself. 

While joy is now an intrinsic part of Janeé’s daily life, it hasn’t always been that way. When she finished graduate school, Janeé struggled with depression and felt lost. “Nothing was satisfying me,” she tells me. In her early introduction to activism, Janeé was often angry and sad but kept it to herself, and from looking through her journals she realized her writing focused exclusively on those feelings. “That set something off in me – that I did not want those feelings of anger and sadness to be my narrative. I don’t want to look back in my journals and see that I was miserable all of the time.” And from that moment forward, it became important for her to also express when she feels good. “I was determined to find some joy, to find something that makes me feel good. So I did that slowly. I danced a little bit more and wrote in my journal a lot more.”

It wasn't until Janeé came across adrienne marie brown's books that she fully understood what “radicalized joy” was. “Her writing helped me understand that through common language I can see and express joy as an act of resistance. I told myself that even in this difficult time, I'm going to find joy.” Through her creative content, Janeé has made social media a safe space for her to talk about mental health. Janeé beautifully displays her joy across her social media platforms – from her journaling page to her twerking videos, you can see that Janeé prioritizes joy and invites her followers to do the same. 

Today’s world can sometimes be brutal, and it’s important that we all take an intentional approach to social media to make sure we share the good and find it in others. Janeé has worked on not taking things to heart and taking care of herself. “I try to make sure I always have time to create. Creating helps me work through problems in my life – whether that’s through dancing, journaling, or drawing. I am always finding outlets for creative expression. And that's how I make sure that I'm taking care of myself. I also need alone time. I'm a very extroverted person, but I really do need time to recover on my own.” 

Tauri Janeé's intentional approach to seek joy and take care of her emotional well-being is something we can all learn from. She is an inspiration to Gen Z-ers and reminds us that it’s okay to slow down, take a break, and shake our booty when we feel like it.

Visit editaurial.com and follow her at @editaurial to stay up to date on all of Tauri Janeé’s creative endeavors.

Full look by PRIVATE POLICY NEW YORK. Shoes by LARROUDE. Bracelet by PATTARAPHAN. Silver ring by WWW.WILLSHOT. 

Photographer: @atprodd

Stylist: @bernadetdavood

Producer: @ilovelucyivey

Production assistant: @itsellaedwards

Hair: @hairbymariah11

Makeup: @facesbydanii

Studio: @blondeandconyc

Graphic Design: @prettylovecharlie

On set assistant: @hannahdashmia

Writers: @itsellaedwards , @ilovelucyivey

Fashion assistant: @tatidom_

Videographer: @alexdekelbaum