Month: April 2018

Posted on

Ask Questions In Reverse

Just thought I’d say hi to a friend who hadn’t been around on Facebook for a while. His last post was as far as December 2017. So, I wanted to check on him and make sure he’s in a right place both mentally and physically. The first thing that popped up in my head was to ask him: How’s life treating you? A question like this wouldn’t have been anything out of ordinary, but we’re both creative people (he’s a singer and a song writer) and particularly myself a strong advocate in empowerment, I thought I’d better come up with something different or unconventional. I paused for a few seconds, then right at that moment the thought that crossed my mind was: why don’t I put the question in reverse? How are you treating life? a new powerful question was born from there.

It was amazing how quickly it transformed my mindset when I shifted gears. For the first time in a long while, it felt like I was in the driving seat, I was the one in charge of the life’s ups and downs. Funnily enough, I only meant to write a how are you, a short catch-up message to a friend, but unexpectedly it ended up an opportunity for me to review my attitude towards life, from an opposite angle.

I sent him a message shortly before this post and yes I did ask that question: How have you been treating life? and all that. Deep down I wouldn’t expect a fast response after all he did say he’s signing out a bit and keeping a low-profile on the social media front. In fact, it’d be entirely fine by me if I don’t hear from him for days or even weeks or months. The truth is I know he’s been busy treating life as it comes. I just wanted to say: Thank you for inspiring me my friend. Keep living your dreams…

Posted on

Things I Can’t Walk Away From

Due to a chain of events, I decided to call it a day and cancel my website “Withstand It”. It was still a milestone considering I’d published 32 posts since launched in November 2017 and I’m not comparing the number with anyone else but myself. A combination of reasons prompted me to shut it down but it was never about me getting tired of it or a matter of novelty wearing off, rather it was because I realized I’d exhausted the concept of “Withstand It” and it was about time for me to move on to the next project and the next chapter – the new website “Ted Tsai Writing” as you see now. The fact that there was still 6 months to go before my subscription expired, didn’t seem to bother me not in the slightest. I was determined to let go of it and do it straight away.

I thought I’d take a longer break before re-entering into the world of blogging but obviously I didn’t. During my time off, I had a few quiet moments to myself to reflect on things I was missing most and what I could learn from the first blogging experience. It became quite clear to me that I simply couldn’t walk away from my passion for writing, thanks largely to my over-thinking brain. Following this came a realization that my obsession with the stats and the readership had taken a toll on me. The notion of getting hung up by the number of views and likes completely defeated the purpose of why I set up “Withstand It” in the first place. All these added up to a quick decision to make a change.

The old posts from “Withstand It” are kept here for a reason – a reminder of how I started this journey as a naïve blogger. Having them incorporated into this new website “Ted Tsai Writing”, gives me a sense of freedom and a bigger purpose. I’ll stick around for the joy of writing. It’s not intended to be the Do’s and Don’ts rule book for anyone but instead it’s a place for me to document and interpret the complexity and richness of life and how it can bring out the best or the worst in us, then finish it off with a touch of empowerment – in my trademark writing style. If it resonates well with readers and they reciprocate it in any way overt or covert, then I know I’m not alone and so do they…