Skip to main content

Introduction

"The trouble is that some children are timorous and some children are reckless, and in order to save the lives of reckless children, warnings are calibrated for their safety, the result of which is that the timorous live in a state of perpetual terror. What I needed to be told was that, 'you know what? Most days, you won't die, it's fine' - I wasn't ever going to tear across a three-lane motorway."

- David Mitchell

Especially in school and in general, I've been constantly warned that whatever I post online will remain online forever. I've often been told stories of employers not hiring people after picking up scraps of nonsense that those prospective employees had posted online when they were seventeen. I've heard of people being ousted and fired due to something that they had said or written wrong.

I had spent a long time deliberating whether or not I actually wanted to start a blog because I have been conditioned to feel that expressing opinions online and having discussions with strangers is dangerous, uncivil and highly discouraged.

I was afraid of starting a blog because I fear that I will be misinterpreted, and that as I progress through life, my perspectives on certain issues change and what I have posted before no longer reflects what I think now. I'm apprehensive that in retrospect and hindsight, that I will be ashamed of what I had posted before, but that everything I had ever written will remain in some archive somewhere forever, the consequences of which will manifest in some way unbeknownst to me until it is too late and has caused much irreparable damage or harm to me or the people around me.

However, gradually I had begun to realise that not every corner of the Internet is infested by insensitive trolls or angry keyboard warriors. 

It is sometimes, though not universally applicably, said that one should not be afraid to share one's story, for it may hold the key for another's figurative prison. Thus I really do hope perhaps by sharing my stories and reflections that I could touch a heart, echo a sentiment, or help someone in the same way that I have been and comforted by the experience, advice and guidance by friends and confidants who believed in me even when I didn't.

I don't believe that I am too inept at putting thoughts into prose, and hopefully someone could find that useful. Perhaps this could be my way of trying to leave the Internet better than I had found it - across what I can, by doing what I do best.

This is wanderingintofocus - welcome or welcome back, enjoy your stay, and see you again soon :)

_
Sunset: Our opinions are shaped by our experiences that engender personal growth, thus expressed opinions can reflect my thinking only at point of publishing, which might not necessarily hold true thereafter.
_
Pause. Ponder. Pen.
wanderingintofocus- a collection of thoughts and reflections

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The mental health conundrum, briefly

According to an article published on 4 August 2020, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) reports that suicide remains the leading cause of death among people aged 10-29 in Singapore, adding that the number of suicides among the 20-29 age cohort remain the highest compared to other age groups.  You know we live in a first world country when the leading cause of death for your youth is suicides and not preventable infectious diseases. Credit where due, every school in Singapore today has a full-time school counselor. In fact, our school had three counselors at the start of this year, two of whom were here on a contractual basis whose duration of commitment have since elapsed and they are no longer attached to our school.  Recently we had a mental health wellness seminar for a CCE (Character and Citizenship Education) lesson in school, wherein the speaker shared with us statistics and studies regarding the importance of sleep or having a balanced diet. In addition, we were introduce...
Post a Comment
Read more

Deconstructing FOMO

Clarification: This is an opinion piece and not a factually researched article. Definitions and lines of reasoning presented herein are largely my own. _ FOMO /ˈfəʊməʊ/ noun  anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media. _ FOMO, the Fear Of Missing Out, refers to the knowledge that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening not involving one but involving one's counterparts that leads to an anxiety or fear of being deprived of the positive experiences that said counterparts or peers are encountering in the given moment. It is one of those weird phrases that has only entered the common lexicon in recent times, and not only already seems dated, but also has an implied negative connotation. However, perhaps the aforementioned criteria are not enough to fully define the circumstances in which FOMO manifests itself. To illustrate, if a gazillionare builds a fleet of automated humanoid dro...
Post a Comment
Read more

On forgiveness

Content Advisory: This piece does NOT discuss religious themes. _ forgive /fəˈɡɪv/ verb  stop feeling angry or resentful towards (someone) for an offence, flaw, or mistake. _ We all know people whom we hate - and people whom we have offended (if you don't know of any such people, then either you're indeed truly benevolent, or simply, YTA but haven't thought hard enough/are too dense to figure). Some of these people, we regret having ever offended or crossed the line with, but the relationship at present seems beyond repair. Similarly, some of these people regret having ever offended or crossed the line with us, but the relationship at present seems to them to be beyond repair. The only way for a broken interpersonal relationship to be repaired is for both parties to, first and foremost, be willing to mend relations. Only then can resolution and forgiveness be of any value in consideration to this discussion. In modern casual lexicon, the meaning of forgiveness seems to have...
Post a Comment
Read more