Archive • Jalan Medha • Buttondown

To all the things that seem to matter

“I have been learning the ways of the world for 40 years. It’s time the world learns my way.” It was a sentence said in jest, but when these words left my...

On a May day's wedding

It’s the morning (rather, noon) after my only sister’s wedding. I’m sitting here on my father’s couch, wondering how time flew by like that. It helps that...

Of life through writing

November 17, 2024

Thank you / Get well soon / I miss you When was the last time you received anything handwritten? Mine was last year’s birthday wishes, on the front page of a...

When the body remembers

September 4, 2024

If you miss someone, do you tell them? Yesterday as I took an escalator up the mall, I saw an older lady heading in the other direction and thought of my ma....

Ginza life, interim

Sakura in full bloom above a “bread box” car typically seen in Japan 2024 in full bloom It’s already the end of April, and I have been deliberating how best...

Hey 2024, let's get lucky

January 5, 2024

A quiet moment in 2023 It's only the fifth day into 2024, but I'm still trying to shake off the last bits of languish even as I welcome the new year. Perhaps...

Of life at 0.75x

October 24, 2023

Stawamus Chief, First Peak - October 2023 Climb ev'ry mountain, ford every stream The highest hill in Singapore is 164m tall, so I am pretty proud I made it...

..because 40 life lessons were just too long a list 1. Judge less, and your heart feels lighterI still do; it's hard to totally switch off this muscle but...

April showers bring May flowers

Un-busy your days It's been a good 10 years since I was recommended Quiet by Susan Cain, to understand the power of introverts, and to appreciate what I...

Less expecting, more accepting

Breathe in, and let go I read this phrase aloud, and felt a slight lifting of heaviness from my mind, as I acknowledged that the expectations I bring to any...

Of music and memory

February 13, 2023

Hey Mr DJ, put a record on I grew up in an age when music on demand had yet to exist. Except when you called the radio stations to dedicate a song to your...

Something in the rain

January 23, 2023

Image credit: @resetnyc Thank you so much! When someone praises you, do you shy away, or belittle what you just did? That's an automatic knee-jerk response...

Being present with tea

January 9, 2023

Greeting the New Year with tea "When you pick up your tea, you breathe in, in order to bring your mind back to your body, and become completely present in...

2022: A year in review

December 14, 2022

The joy of now Dec 2022: Strong gusts of wind blew against my face as I stood watching the waves crashing against the shore, the bite of sand hitting my feet...

When the child becomes the caregiver

September 22, 2022

How to stop worrying about things you can't change @NewHappyCo has a wonderful knack for distilling life concepts into simple steps - bringing a wider scope...

Being in your own season

Breaking a relatively long writing drought with a beautiful and gentle piece from @rainbowsalt on how alone doesn't mean lonely, and it is a season of...

The anxiety of the left-hand drive and fleeting mortality

Timeless sea breezes, that for aeons have blown ancient rocks, you are purest space coming from afar… (Rainer Maria Rilke, Song of the Sea) What's on your...

What if we are merely triaging?

2003 was my first interaction with the term "triage" SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, hit Singapore really hard, and some university friends and I...

Slow and steady, said the tortoise to the hare

February 9, 2022

(Blair Road, 2018) Someone asked me what I find joy in, and I think my answer is unequivocally walking, observing, and drawing. Sit with your feelings For a...

The in and out of intention setting

January 27, 2022

So... I can groove I ended 2021 by doing something I never thought I would - signing up for dance classes. Not just any dance class, but this thing called...

The art of quitting

January 13, 2022

Happy New Year, to you, you and you. In two more weeks, it'll be another New Year for those who celebrate in Lunar months. I won't ask about resolutions or...

Hello world, it's nice to see you again

December 4, 2021

Who would have expected the inexplicable build up of anxiety as I packed for my first trip in two years? The unzipping of a luggage I last used in February...

When less is more

October 15, 2021

I never thought this of myself but what if I am a time millionaire? My friend Tiffany shared this article on how we could find better value in our time, if...

Have you taken your mental wellbeing break? I'm in the middle of mine.

September 22, 2021

Starting off my relative silence with a grounding exercise by Innermade's Irisa Xiong; it really is about giving yourself reason to pause before diving head...

Sitting with myself: a difficult art

August 28, 2021

^ Thanks Tiff for spotting this in the supermarket. It made me keep an eye out while shopping for groceries and I laughed! FOMO JOMO OMO I haven’t found joy...

Noodles in aisle 8

August 17, 2021

My Disneyland is your supermarket I can easily spend upwards of 30 to 45 minutes in a supermarket, browsing (tbh attracted to the carefully placed products...

Life x Art = Tabs

Here’s a back alley scene sketched and painted by a favourite local Singaporean artist Tay Thain Lin. These spiral staircases are a lovely visual talking...

Even Olympians have to take that first step

https://twitter.com/MichellCClark/status/1420655835290558469 'Tis the season, if you haven't already joined in the Olympics fever that hits every end-of-work...

How about taking an awe walk?

We’re not going anywhere, any time soon and we have to accept that fact. But even with our limits and restrictions, for the sake of mental health, we most...

Start/stop/sustain: a mid year review

I've been feeling overwhelmed these past two weeks, seeing the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel sometimes flickering, sometimes blowing out, and I...

Losing the shine of bilingualism

Before I embark on a rather heavy topic for this week’s newsletter, I wanted to share this embroidery of a poem that my friend Sihui introduced to me when we...

A time-out window to my world

(^Video clicks out to a separate browser, where you see the clouds dance this morning. I have no idea how to ensure a video plays in email!) When was the...

Michael Jackson with ice, please

If Life were easily black and white, we wouldn't encounter decision paralysis. Go means go. It's hard to put aside what's been drilled into our heads since...

Thank you for showing up today

This Paynter poster now sits framed, on a ledge in my living room. We need to remember to take care of ourselves, before we can begin to think of others. I...

Kick away, not tick away at, the boxes

"Hi, I'm Medhā, and I am an ESFJ. My enneagram type is 2, with a 1 wing and 4 for growth. My DiSC style is yada, yada, yada, splat." It's not uncommon to see...

Hello miss, are you a geriatric millenial?

^ A reminder to pay it forward and to receive gracefully, before the cycle begins again, and again. (c/o @innermade) When I was growing up, I would downplay...

What do you prioritise?

What do you prioritise? If mobile home screens reflected our horoscopes, mine would likely read: Leos are practical and pragmatic, doing away with...

Being okay with asking

I'm not comfortable when I have to put forth a request for myself. There's a lot of self-doubt and worry if my words could be taken wrongly, or if my (good)...

Two years have passed, and to say that things have changed is a very massive understatement. How are you? I've tinkered around with formats of sharing;...

Learning to teach, teaching to learn

It's not easy standing in front of a crowd, having two hours at your disposal and needing to make the best of it. You don't know exactly how each person in...

October 14, 2018

Some people would say it comes with age, some would even say certain circumstances caused it, but when do you realise you’ve truly built walls and stopped...

On grief, and the passing of time

As I clean up a very long ago website which I ought to have let go earlier, I found this post on grief, on my ma. -- Sep 17, 2012 It’s difficult to just box...

Resolute resolutions

January 24, 2018

Haven't we all been there, done that, with resolutions? But the difference is to keep trying. Not to give up or let your determination fade out because it is...

October 1, 2017

"Thank yourself for showing up," says the yoga instructor every time we wrap up a session. I'm surprised at my commitment to something new, something I used...

Inequality starts from home

Inequality, a word that divides. While attempting to jog and claim a semblance of a healthy lifestyle, I noticed the neighbourhood sports stadium had a...

Scenes from a train #1

He looks on at the other playing Candy Crush. The other remains unperturbed, matching the colours as they line up. Would you remain like the other, or turn...

My first encounter with the description "stay cool and funky" must have been courtesy of late night radio dedication channels. For Singaporeans old enough to...

The death of the "mom & pop"

Convenience stores are aplenty these days, usually chain stores with bright lights and the promise of fresh produce. In contrast, the "mom & pop" sundry...