Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

I've been writing the past months. The writer's studio has been a positive influence . The team of writers from all sorts of background were lovely and talented, and we were full of validation and support for each other's work. It was like AA for writers. Writers Anonymous. No one shamed you for anything. Even the lady who was often off-topic, received rave reviews on each exercise by the tutor. I felt more than empowered and truly believed that I was in the territories of untapped talent within me, so much so I went from wanting to just reawaken my old desires to write short stories to actually toying with the idea of writing a full manuscript. With that sort of naivety/ motivation, I could have actually gone on and written one. I was on a roll, or, in the element with the best kind of people propelling my ego. When my time with the studio ended, reality surfaced. The motivators went silent and soon, the link to the group did a 404 on me. I have to say, I felt a little dej...

Apart from my politically correct IG captions - it those count - and utterly grey SEO-compliant content at work, I haven't written anything much for my inner child in a millennia. Don't know what I've been busy with but since my last post I've lost people, lived through a pandemic, ran a bake shop, worked with my hands, dabbled in B2B writing, and moved to another continent. In between these, I might have lost that perky voice I thought I had on here. The inner kid has retracted deep into her Cancerian shell, and now will you help me smoke coax her out?  Lately, specifically in the last 4 years, I've been feeling detached from that side of me that writes. Sure, I've been distracted by life, but writing for myself has been an escapade ever since I could read. It began with a diary. Her name was Amanda.  She was a pretty hardcover  in pink and pistachio with a golden lock on her. When unlocked with a matching golden key, her A5 pages came lined in pink. I'd ...

AFTER about 10 years in the company, I have resigned! It feels strangely liberating and I never knew a resignation could present me with this incredible sense of freedom. Suddenly, I'm faced with choices. It's like ending a long relationship, not a long, bitter  one but just one that has lost its sparks. The last time I left a company, I didn't resign. I fired myself instead. That, my friends, felt sooo  good it was like releasing myself from an abusive relationship. I was jobless, penniless and almost homeless after that but boy, walking out of that office did feel like I'd grown magical wings.  In my oversized  'minx', and a  Petaling Jaya mug courtesy of the girls. -2008- But life can't be bad all the time. Four months later, I joined the paper, slipping into my dream job. Then on, life has been a roller coaster ride of a million experiences I wouldn't trade for anything else in the world. Work was work but more than work itself, all I eve...