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Thursday, October 22, 2020

Where Do We Go From Here?

2020 has proven to be a unique year.  Being an 80s baby, I feel like my generation has really gone through a slew of enriching experiences in our lifetime.  We were around during the pre-digital age, went through the transition into digital, and now immersed in digital and tech.

We also experienced climate change.  I remember a time when I was younger when the day temperature averaged at 27C and nights 20C.  I distinctly remembered this because as a child, I was obsessed with general knowledge and one of the info in the book I read at the time included the average temperature of Malaysia.  And yes, I verified this with a thermometer.  It was a time when I used to hear stories of Mount Kinabalu having snow (recently there is news that snow has returned!).  Now the average day temperature is 31C and nights at 24C.

Our generation had the privilege to grow up enjoying exercising our imagination through play.  Some were more outdoorsy and sporty, while some were more on the what-can-we-make-and-do-at-home crowd.  Being in the latter group, I remember doing a lot of crafting with my mum, playing make believe with my brother -- building forts with blankets in the living room, playing Christmas day with a vase as the "Christmas tree" with our toys wrapped in newspaper at its base, pretending the bathroom was a swimming pool, paying pretend storefront with pretend money.  Then we bridged into console and computer games.  Haha.

We were the generation when the government started experimenting on changes in the education system.  Introducing English, removing subjects, introducing illustrated history books, elective SPM subjects, meritocracy (students were chasing certificates of participation and taking up co-curricular positions left and right), compulsory "book club" where we had to report on books we read, and more.

We are the generation that had to pivot from old, traditional beliefs of the working environment to a more modern, open, and flexible workflow.  A lot of my friends have since migrated from a full time 9-to-5 to being business owners and entrepreneurs.  I suppose if we could summarize my generation in 1 word, it'll be "Transitional" or "Adaptable".

Obviously I don't speak for everyone in my generation, just my direct experiences being a person of my generation.

Source : Worldometer

We've gone through economic crises and pandemics.  The biggest one is the one we're experiencing now.  An amalgamation of both health and economic crises.  Since March, when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented here, so many struggled to adjust, there were lay offs, and business closures, on top of the rising number of cases.  Then we learned to quickly pivot.  Many, regardless of age, were forced to be digital.  To be online.  I'm grateful for my early immersion in the digital world.  I've been living in the digital space since 1995.  Hehehe.

Only a month ago from writing this post, we thought we had flatten the curve.  For many, work was just regaining momentum and we were embracing staycations.  In fact, my family and I were looking forward to having our staycation and chill time early this month.  I was also supposed to fly to KL for a work event and a friend's wedding this month.  Sadly, the day we were supposed to return from our staycation, was Day 1 of the inter-district movement restriction.  Our pool villa staycation immediately turned into a stay-in-cation.

In a matter of weeks, we went from 100+ total active cases to almost total 8,000 active cases.  We were doing so well.  There has been a political blame game going around that I may comment on in a later post.  For now, where do we go from here?

My Facebook feed has been showing friends and acquaintances shifting their schedule again to digital.  More grievances on cancelled gigs and events, and suffering in silence.  The financial stress of accepting the end of the 6-months moratorium we had in April-September, the heightened imbalance of income and expenses, and steady outflow of savings.

Staying positive and motivated has never been more needed.  For me, the key thing now is acceptance of the situation, remembering we're all in this together, and figuring out how to survive and ride this wave.  Having passive income has never been more essential.  As for my businesses, building a brand and awareness is paramount.  For those who knows me know that there's just so many things I want to do, so many ideas to do them, it now just time to light the torch and go.

So where do I go from here?  Survive and thrive.

Stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy everyone.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Am I back to Blogging?

 It's been awhile hasn't it?  I remember a juncture a few years back where I considered actively blogging again.  That clearly didn't happen.

Sometimes we go through life and we let life take over us.  Consume us even.  So many things has changed since I started this blogging adventure.  Yes, it was an adventure.

In high school, in the 90s, (yes, giving away age tidbits here), I was acquainted with the internet.  Then the internet brought me lessons in HTML.  Being young and hungry for knowledge (and things to do), I taught myself HTML from websites like w3schools (it's crazy that they're still around!) and the likes.  There was a time I made a website teaching basic HTML too as part of my digital experiment in creating websites on different providers.  Adel's Classroom was on Crosswinds (if I remember correctly. It was ages ago).

I played around creating sooo many websites back in the days. I wish I had a record of all of them.  I don't even remember which computer I was using to create them!  Hahah.

Some of the ones I remember:

  • Adel's Domain - This was my main personal website. I ran awards and stuff here.
  • Adel's Classroom - My basic HTML lesson website
  • Adel Online - A Teen Webring (yes, it was a thing) and personal website
  • 911 Fan Club - I don't actually remember the name but it's for the UK boy band 911
  • The Steven Spielberg Universe - A fan page on all things Spielberg
  • LimeDrops - My first foray into creating graphics and design elements for people (free!)
There were others I can't even remember now.  I know I tried Angelfire, Tripod and more.

Memories of one of the websites courtesy of the Way Back Machine

Then came the age of blogging.  I love Blogger as a blogging platform.  It is easy to use, and I could play with customizing the looks and layout of the blog.  I tried using WordPress as well but didn't quite like it (until now...) and I feel like there were other platforms I used but can't recall.

I of course went ham again with blogging.  Hahahha.  Some of my blogs were/are:
  • simply elixelle - This blog. Personal and casual.
  • elixelle's Beauty Moments - All about beauty. Hauls, reviews, education.
  • mysewingproject - I tried. Sewing is just so time consuming. LOL.
  • Casual Vanity - Basically the new home for elixelle's Beauty Moments
  • Aurora by elixelle - I had a blogshop at one point. That was fun
  • Trove by elixelle - This was my blogshop for my 2nd hand clothes and items
And I think there was one that was supposed to be documenting my fitness journey.  That journey has been on hiatus since.  Hahah.

So back to the topic of the day.  Am I back to blogging?  I might be.  There's so much to say and social media, as much as I enjoy it and love it, doesn't seem like an appropriate avenue for long form thoughts and reflections.

I'm even considering reviving my beauty blog and actually finish my lessons there. Hahaha.  I've got the experience, resources, and tools now, at least more than I used to.  But I think that may end up finding a home through my professional website.  Maybe.  I'm still in the midst of revamping that too.