Why I Hold Space for Others
Hey there friends, my name is Jen Hubbs. I am a supporter, connector, networker, painter, advocate, facilitator, and planner.
This website and our community is called The ArtHubb. The reason I call it The ArtHubb is because I believe that all of our gifts and expertise are art. Hubb comes from my last name, Hubbs. I am here to hold space for all of us.
At first, I created ArtHubb as a way to showcase my art. Now, the idea of ArtHubb has evolved into this beautiful collaborative community that fosters a safe and supportive environment for individuals to connect, learn, and grow with special attention on mental health.
My goal is to hold space for any one person to come and feel like they are 100% supported, heard, and included.
Why supported, heard, and included? Read on for my story!
The Beginning
In 2013, I snowballed into a unique experience that completely changed my life. I was catfished (met someone who wasn’t who they said they were) on national television, 2000 miles away from home, with only myself (and the hosts & crew of the show.)
This was the first time I was ever able to say that I felt comfortable being myself.
I call my experience unique because it isn’t exactly how I ever pictured myself taking the leap to loving myself for who I am. If you saw my episode, you have heard a little bit of my story. In fact, more people than I ever imagined saw my episode. For those of you who haven’t, here’s a summary:
I started playing online games when I was around age 9. I also developed some of the neatest, life-saving relationships with the friends I made. In middle school, life was a blur of bullying, loneliness, and long hours talking to people online. The people I met on this game could hold space for me.
By high school, my identify online felt significantly more respected than my identity IRL (in real life.) My senior year, all the time I spent online, along with all the assumptions by my peers IRL — everything came to a peak.
In one world, I was being offered the unbelievable chance to meet someone I really liked, that I had met online (GOALS?? maybe at that age..) In another world, I was being discredited, made fun of, and told that I was lying just to get more attention.
The Catfish Experience
Well, remember how I said I snowballed into the experience? That’s pretty much how it happened. From the thought of meeting this person IRL, for real, to when Nev & Max (the hosts) were on my doorstep, I swear it was less than a month. And then I was off. I chose to miss the last few days of my senior year to fly into a new, more worthwhile experience (with some strangers that my family and I were hoping had my best interests at heart!)
The less-happy part of this story is when I do arrive at this person’s doorstep to meet them, and they aren’t AT ALL who they said they were! To be expected at this point, right? He was a turd. He said he was “just working on his game” and was talking to several girls, and felt that I was the ‘strongest and most comofortable with myself to come out to’ (a compliment wrapped in narcissism.)
What I got from this experience wasn’t necessarily how not to get catfished again, but rather, how to love myself all the time, no matter who I’m around and why they’re there.
Please don’t get me wrong, I definitely did not understand life at that point. I hadn’t even been to college yet (ALL THE NEW LEARNING AND DIVERSITY!) Going to college brought to light a ton of feelings, overwhelmings, and diagnoses. Graduating college brought even more. Ranging from anxiety and depression in my younger years to ADHD, personality disorders, misdiagnosed bipolar, binge eating disorder, and hypersomnia in my current years.
Holding Space Today
I am here, nearly 10 years later, ready and willing to share everything that I have learned about myself, mental health, mindfulness, communication, and all of the things. I also want to share the experience of continued growth and learning with as many people as possible.
Our ArtHubb Community meets every weekday morning on Twitch for Breakfast and Feelings Check-In from 8-10am CST. We would love to share our space with you! Come share how you’re feeling – don’t worry! Feeling words are provided!
Love, Jen
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