Hello Sunshine

This is a tribute to my previous blog, "Hello Sunshine" - of which i spent a lot of time on (because back then the only other online trends were Neopets and Friendster - and if you understand what these are then it shows your age. cries). It's funny how i always find myself writing, or wanting to write again. Not to be overly dramatic or sentimental, but i sure do miss it (and this time round i know how to include proper references, yay I have a Degree).

Backstory.

My previous blog was what millennials nowadays would label as... trash (so was the movie "A Dog's Life" - if you haven't watched it yet, don't). I was an emotional, angsty, sensitive and impulsive teenager that abused the platform (and if ever someone manages to hack into my archives to expose me, i would truly be embarrassed; and i am sorry, in advance).

The main reason i stopped blogging was because 18 year-old me had a tiny existential crisis and found myself writing cringy content just to please an imaginary audience, completely denying my own interests, personality and beliefs (and perhaps 40 year-old Chloe would find present Chloe totally #UnCool #Ifhashtagsarestillathing). I realized that i needed to have more integrity as a person, and decided to just pause and figure myself out (lol it's been so many years and i am still trying to figure things out, and also still using "lol").

Hello, again.

Now i'm back, with what i think is a more mature mindset (i hope). For a period of time, i've been submitting articles to other platforms as a freelancer to earn some side income. How expressive i was seemed to be hindered by the fact that those platforms were simply... not mine. What if the objectives of the website did not represent my ideals or values or principles? What if they wanted the title of my article to be some lame click-bait e.g. Top 5 Tips to Land Yourself An Internship / 20 Things You Can Learn From A Cucumber (yes, with all those unnecessary capitalized alphabets as well. psh. but if you would like to know more about internships, hmu).

There was this one specific article i wrote - on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, that was very close to my heart; and after many roller coasters (with those hola-hoop spinny spins), i have published it... just for the website to shut down. Sigh pie.

So that's when i thought to myself: "Why not publish it on my own blog?"

Surprise, Surprise.

I've spent months praying and having conversations about this - i don't want to return to my angsty teenage days where i get carried away with my emotions and just rant. In fact, i wanted this to please God. So i did the most i-am-a-responsible-adult thing i could think of: i made a list. I will also try to be more of a responsible adult by sticking to this list.

I have created categories of topics i would (allow myself to) post about. It's funny how people talk about not crossing boundaries when they don't even know what the boundaries are. I have thus created the boundaries for myself :) <- proud smiley face.

Faith: To talk about my journey as a Christian - my relationship with God, and what i do to serve Him and His Kingdom. What it means to revolve everything i do around God and have Him at the centre of it all. The ups, where i praise God for His faithfulness, favour, grace; His revelations & miracles. All the downs, the dry seasons where i struggle to hear from God, where i struggle to be obedient. To be shameless about my walk, to be humble to learn from His word, to be honest about my failures; to marvel in His wonder, to soak in His forgiveness, to be in Him embrace. To share the gospel to the ends of the world.

Experience: To share genuine experiences of what i have been through. It is basically recapping what has happened that may or may not include lessons that i have drawn from that particular incident. Straight up, no nonsense, no "this was sponsored by", stories about life.

Opinions (Reflections): Not just impulsive rants, but well developed (or if there’s no conclusion yet, it is at least politically correct, or very carefully expressed) thought processes. This is a space that requires research, critical thinking and processed information - not a mere platform to express my immediate emotions (I hope you can tell by now that i really am trying to avoid being impulsive).

The following two categories requires more action (and hopefully i get to engage and collaborate with others in this area), and i'm quite excited.

Social Issues: Two main aspects of social issues i am currently interested in are:

mental health (awareness and suicide prevention) and education. Both topics are very close to my heart - i believe people should care for their emotional well-beings and that when the nation is well educated, they learn to give back and contribute to their countries. To cover more aspects of social issues and suggest long-term/practical steps; to be a platform to call out those who are responsible & grow together.

Social Projects: This is when the concerns for social issues turns into realities. It is starting something that is sustainable and that would contribute to the society in one way or another. It is also to highlight other groups or NGOs and their initiatives/cause - simply a platform to allow awareness.

I honestly don't know what's ahead, but till then.