Riding solo

Does doing things on your own make you a strange pea? Does that mean you’re lonely?

The story

We all have a rehearsed set of lines similar to our Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn bios. These are usually simple yet exciting enough, witty but safe. It is the story you know people want to hear even if it is not yours to tell. It is a story of our past achievements, our future aspirations, our talents and outward appearances. It is a story meant for the file.

Mental health matters

There will always be people telling you they know better. There will always be people finding shame in your struggles and achievements. There will also always be you who matters most. There will always be voices of self doubt. There will always be cheers for self love. On good and bad days, there will always be love for you, from your family, friends and strangers alike.

Acceptance

We’re faced with grief in the form of the death of a loved one, a bad break-up, the loss of a job, a tanked idea, abuse in any form, or a fatal diagnosis. These circumstances mostly come unannounced, leaving you with tear-stained faces and empty pillow talk. You’re told to live well, and just when you do, it’s all taken away from you.

Good or bad, time will tell

We are not running out of time. Our journeys will pan out as they must eventually anyway. So it is okay not knowing every once in a while. It’s okay to keep putting your building blocks together, bit by bit. It’s okay to feel confused. It’s okay to feel frustrated. It’s okay to feel everything all at once.

By: Chriselle Correia 28 March 201928 March 2019 Honesty HourAdulthood, Birthday, Existential Crisis, Gratitude, Happiness, Life Lessons, Thoughts, WritingLeave a Comment

26

Turning 25 seemed monumental and I suppose it was! I finished a Master’s degree, I found my best friend, I discovered my inner goof, I started putting a home together, I became a puppy-mummy. In so many ways, I truly crossed the threshold of adulthood while meandering through 25. As I turn another year older, there is so much to reflect on, so much to learn from, so much to share, so much to teach—all these lessons and thoughts root themselves in my mind, reminding me of all that I should be thankful for. But everything in between that milestone and the rest of my life seems rather indefinite. I mean, what’s 26 supposed to feel like?

By: Chriselle Correia 19 March 201920 March 2019 LettersHome, Journal, Love, Love & Relationships, Love & Romance, Love Is, Relationships, Thoughts, Writing, Writing & ExpressionLeave a Comment

When your person feels like home

Home to me has always been where I grew up, an address I remember almost instantaneously. And in the last few years, it’s mostly been a memory decked with stills of my childhood and young adult life. But the more I think about it, considering, the attachment isn’t with the house itslef but with those that make it home – family, friends, pets, moments. Home has always been these peoeple that ease every question and worry by really being around you with no barriers and restrictions.

By: Chriselle Correia 1 January 201920 March 2019 Honesty Hour2018, Gratefulness, Gratitude, Lessons, Life Lessons, Love, New Year, Resolutions, Thankful, Thoughts, Writing1 Comment

Bye, bye 2018.

They say the way you spend New Year’s Eve marks how you spend the rest of the year. I looked over the water, drank some champagne, laughed with people I love and then laughed some more, FaceTimed with my better halves around the world, watched the fireworks and held onto my love with gratitude. If this…

about: once upon a chai / Chriselle Correia

About Blog

As someone rightly said, “Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.”

About Author

A twenty-something, still learning about life.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

By: Chriselle Correia 13 December 201817 December 2018

Honesty Hour, Writing & ExpressionChristmas, Christmas Spirit, Christmas Wish, Faith, Family, Hope, Journal, Living Away From Home, Love, Thoughts, WritingLeave a Comment

Christmas has always been about more than the presents under the tree and the lights on the streets. It is about family and friends around the table, it is about celebrating our faith and the gift of love and forgiveness from God. It is about the joy we share with every Carol sung. It is about the memories made over baking sweets and granny’s Christmas pudding. It is about every tradition from the past and every new tradition you create as you grow older.

Hello November

Fifty days to Christmas and a week over to the new year, this is my favourite time of the year. The days are getting long and the breeze is getting warm. As I walk down pathways covered in petals, the horizons are a blur. In the distance, I see a Christmas tree, golden and green. It is covered in lights, and wishes and dreams.

Be the life of the party

Look back to your past on a Monday, look upon tomorrow on a Tuesday, reach ahead for your future on a Wednesday, but slow down on a Thursday, be still on a Friday, and be thankful for the present on the weekend.

Wake me up when September ends

By: Chriselle Correia 3 October 201810 April 2019

Honesty Hour, Writing & ExpressionDear Diary, Existential Crisis, Note To Self, Quarter Life Crisis, Self and Relationships, Self Care, Self Love, Self-discovery, Thoughts, Truth, Twenty Something, WritingLeave a Comment

To be in an existential crisis can feel very daunting and confronting. Recently, I found myself questioning the hope for tomorrow. What if we never reach the future? What if our future and everything it entails is the present and that is all that will ever exist? My boyfriend often talks about the life he envisions for our 80s. It’s adorable to think that someone would do everything they could today to promise you a beautiful tomorrow. What about our terrible twenties and terrific thirties and frightful forties or the fantastic fifties?

What is self-care?

By: Chriselle Correia 26 September 201817 December 2018

Honesty Hour, Writing & ExpressionAcceptance, Home, Life, Ramblings, Relationships, Self Care, Self Love, Thoughts, WritingLeave a Comment

Sometimes self-care is writing or drawing. Sometimes it is fighting for what is right for you. Sometimes it is saying no. It could also be travelling to a new city alone. Sometimes it is doing absolutely nothing. Self-care is also telling yourself it’s okay to make mistakes; it’s okay to not know. Sometimes it is letting people see you for who you are. It is also not being ashamed of being weak. It is also accepting that you are strong.

Why do we go looking for pain?

By: Chriselle Correia 26 September 201817 December 2018

Honesty Hour, Writing & ExpressionAcceptance, Anxiety, Blogging, Feelings, Gratitude, Grief, Life, Love, Mental Health, Musings, Sadness, Self Love, Thoughts, WritingLeave a Comment

Food for thought from one of my favourite humans, “Why does figuring and coming up with what’s wrong in our lives or even creating situations that make our lives seem bad come more easily to humans?” I don’t know. It just does. Lately, I have become more cynical about everything and everyone around me. My…

Spring cleaning

By: Chriselle Correia 3 September 201817 December 2018

Honesty Hour, Writing & ExpressionExistential Crisis, Life, Life Lessons, Moving Out, Spring Cleaning, Thoughts, Twenty Something, Writing, Writing & ExpressionLeave a Comment

Moving has been an experience of self-learning and discovery, with its own challenges. For the most part, it goes by in a blur. You make checklists and strike off to-dos. You’re so busy and focused on downsizing, you forget you’re also expanding. You’re expanding your life, again.

To grow in grief

By: Chriselle Correia 22 June 201831 December 2018

Honesty Hour, Writing & ExpressionAcceptance, Adulthood, Daily Thoughts, Death, Family, Grief, Inspire, Life, Life Lessons, Love, Relationships, Thought Catalog, Thoughts, WritingLeave a Comment

When you lose someone you love, you don’t simply grieve their loss. With them, you lose yourself and parts of those around you. With them, you lose friends and family and partners you thought would continually stand by you. With them, you lose light. With them, you lose love. With them, you lose a piece of kindness from your whole. With them, you lose faith in the Almighty. With them, you lose a version of life you were prepared for. With them, you lose a piece of life too.

Love isn’t perfection

By: Chriselle Correia 4 June 201817 December 2018

LettersEmotions, Finding Love, Love, Note To Self, Relationships, Thoughts, Writing & Expression1 Comment

Love is a myriad of moments and emotions and stolen smiles. It is text messages and the kisses he leaves on your forehead, it is fears enveloped in laughter and kisses mixed with alcohol. It is holding a new pair of hands and walking in the rain. It is sharing a box of nuggets in the park and studying together by candlelight. It makes you live and helps you forgive. What it isn’t is perfection. In fact, it is anything but. Often, it can be flawed but most other times it is beautiful, just like this moment—covered in light, content, committed, warm, delicious and cuddly.

Gigs & Guitars

By: Chriselle Correia 31 May 201817 December 2018

Letters, Writing & ExpressionAcceptance, Am Writing, Best Friends, Friendship, Letter to a loved one, Life, Love, Love Letter, Relationships, Thoughts, Twenty Something, Writing, Writing & ExpressionLeave a Comment

I can’t remember the last time it was as easy to feel at home with someone you hadn’t ever met before. In between Pancake Parlour, the Coldplay concert and the 229 patio, I found two of my best friends. It’s one of the best stories to share as far as serendipitous friendships go – from attending concerts as strangers to living together as soul-friends.

April 2019
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Mar
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30