Getting back into blogging is great and all until I remember that in order to do it I actually have to sit down and write blog posts…I honestly should have thought this through more.

When I first wanted to start a blog, back in 2016, my idea of what it would look like was much different from what it is now. For instance, I wouldn’t have a writer’s statement and it certainly wouldn’t include something like this:

A lot of my writing focuses on what it means to be Asian and a Chinese adoptee in America. I explore the intricacies of family relationships, generational trauma, cultural differences, and the impact of loss at an early age. As a child of two cultures, Chinese by birth and American by adoption, I’ve always felt a sense of unbelonging in both. Through my writing, I try to find the balance between them and work out my place in the world.

It’s interesting how things change over the years. I’ve written a bunch of bios from my first writer’s bio on NaNoWriMo to Instagram, Goodreads, the first one on this blog, and now this one. All of them have been me or a part of myself that I think defines who I am. Bios are difficult to write. How much honesty and transparency should I include to sound genuine and yet not feel as if I have shared too much?

Last year, at my old college, I went to a few gatherings of the Asian American Association. During one meeting they had everyone gather into small groups with an ASA leader. The purpose of them was for everyone to get to know each other and build friendships and community. They did this by asking questions and having everyone in the group go around and answer them. However, some of the questions were rather personal and touched on difficult topics such as racism and growing up Asian. Questions such as did you experience any racism during COVID?, how did being Asian impact you growing up?, are there any cultural differences you dealt with living in America? Instead of leaving the meeting feeling a sense of community and shared experience I left feeling as if my skin had been peeled back to reveal everything inside. I felt raw and in a sense violated.

Over the years I’ve grown to dislike talking about my family. A simple question such as how old is your sister? isn’t as easy to answer as it should be. My reply always leads to numerous questions being asked because my situation is outside of the “norm”. While our differences can make us unique they can also feel quite isolating. If I don’t feel comfortable talking about even the simplest details of my family, then I certainly didn’t want to share the information that the questions above required. Even hearing other people’s experiences felt as if I was overstepping boundaries; I barely knew most of the people in my group.

Painful experiences and trauma are complicated. While it can be healing to share the information these types of questions require, the scars left from the experiences being shared can run deep, and first, require a basis of trust and safety before being revealed. Without that safety and trust, being forced to share can cause more harm than good. It’s not anyone’s place to tell you when or where you should open up. Even hearing about others’ experiences can be triggering. This is why many movies, TV shows, and books now have trigger and content warnings at the beginning.

While it is easier to share more personal details online than face-to-face I don’t want to be too comfortable or nonchalant either. This is not only to protect myself but also the people reading my blog. My writer’s statement went through many drafts and a lot of things got cut from it. I wanted to share the general themes and ideas my writing will cover without jumping into more detail right away. All my posts that have specific content will have trigger/content warnings at the beginning so that you know what you will be reading.

By including content warnings I hope that it will give you the choice of when and if you want to read a certain post. I believe that consent is important to have on both the writer and reader’s part.

I hope you have a great Sunday. ❤️

~Ming

What are your thoughts on trigger warnings? Was there ever a time you wished there was one in a book or movie you were reading/watching?