What Motivates Me to Keep Creating as a Writer and Artist

I sometimes wonder if it’s foolish to keep doing this. I write, create, draw, and start all over again. There’s no assurance that anyone is listening or anything will come of it. But still, I keep coming back. I wake up before the world stirs and write. I build and dream out loud. Why? Because something inside me refuses to stay silent.

I believe my primary motivation is the need to express myself truthfully. I don’t do it for performance or to convince anyone. I just express myself either through writing or drawing without having any expectations. I’ve spent far too many years conforming to the expectations of others. I am a wife and a mother. I am reliable and strong. But when I write, I can be tender, unfiltered, and fully myself. Even if the words come out wrong or the idea is incomplete, it is still mine. Creating allows me to regain the parts of myself that were left behind. It’s how I come back to myself.

Writing helps me express things I can’t say out loud. It makes room for contradictions like guilt and delight, compassion and tiredness. It allows me to say things that I’ve been holding back for years. Some of my poems or essays contain silent confessions. Others are simply letters I’ve never sent. However, they all stem from the same place: a desire to live truthfully, even if just on the page.

And something wonderful happens when I release that into the world. My words reach out and connect with the right people. People crave connection. Everyone. You and me. My words may give comfort to those who scroll past the noise and pause at a sentence because it sounds like something they previously felt but never said out loud. I don’t share my writing for likes or analytics, but I have hopes that someone, somewhere, would read what I wrote and feel seen.

Connection doesn’t always mean interaction. Sometimes it’s just the feeling of being less alone. A stranger may read my words and find a piece of themselves in them. It may seem trivial and unimportant, but there’s something deeply rooted about it. It’s honest, authentic, even mundane.

And there’s something else that draws me in—my culture. Iban women weren’t always taught to speak up, though they did have important roles in the hierarchy of things. No matter where I am in the world, I carry my ancestors with me. I carry their strength and courage in my veins. And I want to record that because I want to remember. I want my children to remember too. Writing helps me to cling onto what the world keeps trying to erase.

When I write about Iban culture or way of life, I feel as if I am reconstructing myself. I know these stories matter even if just a handful of people read them.

I am also deeply motivated by creative freedom. I’ve had roles, jobs, and seasons where I adhered to the rules. It paid the bills, certainly, but it drained my spirit. This space I’ve built—my blogs, art, and shops—is mine. I don’t need to wait for anyone’s permission. I can write anything I want, like a parenting essay on Monday, publish a poem on Wednesday, and draw something for fun on Friday. The flexibility and ownership are essential for my creative spirit.

There’s something powerful about knowing I can change course if I need to. I don’t have to adhere to a specific niche or present a specific version of myself. All my creative work reflects every aspect of me, whether they are messy, raw, or incomplete, they are all mine.

Perhaps the most tender motivation is I do this for my children. Money is important, of course; I do earn from some of my work, but money is less important when it comes to showing my children who their mother truly is. It’s important for them to know that I have dreams and aspirations, and I wasn’t just the mother who prepared their meals and helped with homework. I want them to know that I was also someone who wrote her way through pain and hope. I want them to see me grow and not simply survive. This, I hope, may give them permission to do the same.

I want my children to know that it’s okay to change direction, to outgrow old narratives and start again. I want them to see that growth doesn’t always look like a straight line. Sometimes it’s slow, silent, or even invisible. But regardless of the progress, it’s still growth. And I want them to have the courage to follow their own paths, no matter how long or winding they get.

So when things become hard, and they do, I try to come back to these five truths. I don’t always get it right. There were days when I doubted or gave up, but the fire never completely went out. And when I return, it welcomes me back like a lover with wide open arms.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

What I Enjoy Most About Writing

I’ve been writing since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I figured out what I enjoyed most about it. It’s not always the act of writing itself, like filling up notebook after notebook or the satisfying click of the “publish” button. What I love most about writing is how it helps me understand myself and the world in ways that nothing else can.

Writing has always helped me see things more clearly. It calms my mind and helps me sort through complicated feelings and thoughts. I sometimes start writing without knowing what I want to say. But as the words come, my ideas begin to settle. The unpleasant feelings start to fade and the fog clears. Writing gives me a sanctuary to think, reflect, and heal.

I often write to work through feelings I haven’t fully processed, like grief, confusion, doubt, or painful memories. Writing gives those emotions a safe place to land. It helps me carry what would otherwise feel too heavy. Sometimes I don’t need a solution. Just putting the words down is enough. It becomes a form of release that quietly brings me back to myself.

Writing also helps me connect with others. Whether it’s a blog post, a poem, or a message on social media, it creates an invisible thread between me and someone else. I may not know who reads my work, but I write with the hope that my words might make someone feel seen, understood, or a little less alone. That subtle and honest connection has become something I deeply value.

Writing is also a wonderful way to leave a legacy. My Iban poems and cultural reflections are more than just creative expressions. They are a way to preserve and pass on language, traditions, and identity to the next generation. I want my kids to know where they came from when they grow up. I want them to read my words and experience a sense of recognition, rootedness, and curiosity about their heritage. This is how I use writing to become a bridge between generations.

I also love how writing lets me be creative. Fiction allows me to step into different characters and have different experiences. I can explore new points of view, see other possibilities, and live other lives without leaving my own. It stretches my thinking and enhances my sense of empathy. Writing fiction helps me deal with truths that I’m not ready to face head-on yet. And it sometimes leads me to discoveries I didn’t expect, like revealing emotions or insights I didn’t know I had.

Writing also makes me think more clearly. It helps me make sense of an issue or an argument by breaking it down and looking at it from different perspectives. It forces me to be honest, think more deeply, and clarify what I really believe. That process is good for my mind and heart. It helps me sit with complicated things without rushing to resolve them.

And then there’s the simple joy of making something that never existed before. It is satisfying to create something that has meaning for me and perhaps for others, whether it’s a poem, a blog post, or a whole collection of work. I like the feeling of completing a piece of writing and being proud of how I shaped it from start to finish.

Some days I write because I feel inspired and some days I write because I need to. But no matter what, writing never feels like work. It feels like returning to something that has always belonged to me. It’s a place where I don’t have to perform or pretend and can just be me.

So, when I think about what I enjoy most about writing, it comes down to this: it helps me live more honestly. It helps me think better, feel better, and observe the world better. It helps me connect, remember, and make sense of things. Writing has helped me heal, find clarity, find purpose, and build connection with others. I can’t think of anything more satisfying than that.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

First Image of a Black Hole | Looking Across Space and Time

I didn’t think I would cry. I just wanted to watch something that wouldn’t make my grief worse. Netflix’s documentary, Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know, wasn’t supposed to make me weep, but I wept anyway.

I lost it as soon as they showed the first image of the M87 supermassive black hole. It was an image of a dark center with a faint, perfect ring of light around it. Such an event had never happened before in human history. We used to think we could never capture it. And there it was. It was no longer just theory or math but something we could finally see and name. We could finally see the unseeable.

It wasn’t the mind-blowing science that got to me. It was the time it took for that image to travel to our planet. That image of light we saw in 2019 had been traveling for 55 million years from the galaxy M87. We somehow caught that image of the black hole in this present day during our lifetime. What we were really looking at wasn’t just a region in space. We were looking back in time.

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Fifty-five million years ago, the Earth was in the early Eocene epoch, which was only ten million years after the dinosaurs vanished. The world was warm and tropical and teeming with early mammals. Forests covered much of the land. Our distant ancestors were small, curious primates who climbed trees and lived on a planet that was still recovering from extinction.

The light began its journey somewhere in that ancient, lush world. It left behind a galaxy that no living thing on Earth had ever thought of. It traveled through the universe quietly and steadily as life on Earth evolved. It kept going as continents shifted, species came and went, and the first humans learned to make fire, sing songs, build temples, write poetry, and wage wars. It travelled throughout millions of millennia and arrived in our lifetimes.

That’s why I cried. So poetic. It felt like divine timing, a cosmic coincidence that was too beautiful to ignore. Our existence coincided with this fleeting moment in history, marking the completion of that ancient light’s journey. That all of human history had aligned so that we could see the shadow of something that used to only exist in the realms of physics and imagination. A black hole is a void so complete that it bends reality, and the light that falls into it makes it visible to our eyes.

I felt small and humbled. I reflected on the countless generations that had lived and died without ever being aware of this. In the grand scheme of things, our stories are extremely small. But somehow, we were able to look back 55 million years and make sense of what we saw. We were able to see it because we had the courage to ask questions and persistently search for answers.

I think that’s what stayed with me. It’s a reminder that certain things we perceive as unknowable may not remain so. Sometimes, truth comes like light from far away – slowly, patiently, and without fail. And sometimes, the edge of everything we know is just the beginning of the realm of future discoveries.

I wonder how many more truths are coming our way right now. If we keep looking, I wonder what other things that seem impossible we might discover.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

How I’ve Been Moving My Own Goalposts

I’ve been creating and publishing my work for years, but if you heard me talk about my work, you might think I’m just getting started.

I have this strange habit that I’ve noticed. I always add a “but” to every milestone I reach. In 2015, I published my first coloring book. This was long before the age of AI and before everyone was selling and publishing coloring books in droves. It was a huge feat for me because I had no formal education in design or tools but in the back of my mind it wasn’t a big deal because it wasn’t a novel. I sold my art and designs to people all over the world, but it was only a few dollars at a time. I’ve been interviewed on the radio a couple of times…but they were only thirty minutes. I’ve been featured in a local newspaper (The Star) and magazines…but no one remembers them. Even my poems, two in a local online literary journal and one in an international one, also come with the quiet disclaimer that they weren’t in a fancy, hardbound anthology.

In 2018, two of my paintings were part of a group show in Lisbon, Portugal. At the time, I remember feeling honored…and then telling myself right away that they were only small pieces, as if that made it less important that people on the other side of the world had chosen and seen them.

My brain seems to be programmed to move the goalposts as soon as I score. Everything I’ve done immediately ceases to count because it wasn’t more extensive, profitable, or longer. It’s a silent erasure of my own work and not humility. And the more I consider it, the more I see how deeply ingrained it is. Somewhere along the way, I learned that worth could only be measured in extremes.

I think part of it stems from the way accomplishments are often celebrated. Best-sellers, award winners, and overnight sensations often make the headlines. Seldom do the slower, more steady steps receive the same attention. Perhaps that’s why I find it difficult to appreciate them in my own life because they’re not the kind of victories that garner much attention.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about the new voices I’ve seen online. People who are just starting out as artists or writers are celebrating their first novel draft, drawing, or Etsy sale. Their happiness is apparent. They aren’t comparing it to some unseen standard. They don’t say “but” after their announcement. I wish I could have that. And it makes me think about how many moments I’ve missed out on because I wouldn’t let myself be proud for more than a second.

The truth is that my creative life has been full. I’ve brought six coloring books from idea to market, my art and designs have traveled farther than I have, I’ve done an overseas group show, I’ve done radio interviews, print features, and years of steady blogging. It exists not because I waited for permission, but because I put it out there into the world. And yet, I’ve been the one who’s diminishing it.

Here’s another truth: I don’t share links to my interviews or published works on my blog or social media. They carry my real identity, but I want to stay anonymous for now. That gives me a sense of freedom because I can create without worrying about my name, my face, or the expectations that come with them. Without that attachment, I can try new things, explore, and even fail without worrying that my whole identity is at stake.

The price of this mindset, both the anonymity and the constant moving of the goalposts, isn’t just emotional. It seeps into motivation. You never feel like you’ve arrived when you keep moving the finish line. And without that rest and a moment of acknowledgement and gratitude, the trip starts to feel like an endless uphill climb.

I’ve been trying to change this by creating tangible reminders that my work is real and worth noticing, not by forcing myself to feel proud. I made a “Proof Folder.” I keep screenshots of kind messages from readers or buyers, pictures of my books and art in the world, sales confirmations, and links to features or interviews. It’s an effort to fight against my habit of forgetting. I’ll open the folder on days when the “but” tries to take over. I’ll remind myself that the work was done, that it mattered, and that it still does.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to completely silence the voice in my head that says, ‘It’s not enough.’ But I might be able to learn to say something more true: It’s all mine. I made it and that counts.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

When Entertainment Crosses the Line | On Exploiting Women’s Pain for Ratings

Something very disturbing happened on Malaysian live TV last night. During Anugerah Melodi, Bella Astillah was made to present an award to the woman her ex-husband had cheated on her with. It was like watching a slow-motion car crash; you want to look away, but you can’t because you can’t believe that something so cruel could be planned, aired, and packaged as entertainment.

And what’s worse? Some people had the nerve to call Bella unprofessional for walking away. Let me be clear: Bella didn’t overreact. She didn’t make a fuss and was able to hold back. And the fact that she had to hold back at all, in a situation that no woman should ever have to be in, is the real tragedy. What happened wasn’t entertainment. It was a public humiliation well-dressed with glitter and applause.

It’s absolutely shameful for a system to think it’s okay to put a woman in the same spotlight as the person who hurt her family, just for shock value. And then to show it live, knowing all the history and emotional turmoil that went into it? It’s bad taste with a total lack of respect for human dignity.

I usually don’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry, whether it’s local or international. I’ve never really been interested in it, and most news about celebrities goes right by me. But this incident made me livid. Because this wasn’t a drama for Slot Akasia (TV segment for local drama) but real pain being paraded as a spectacle. And as someone who has been through a lot of trauma myself, I couldn’t help but feel triggered by how easily that pain was exploited and dismissed.

This is where we need to have a larger conversation about the ethics of our entertainment industry. And it doesn’t stop there. What we show on TV isn’t a random thing. Our kids are watching. They’re learning how to treat people by watching how we treat them, especially how we treat people who are hurting. And in a country where bullying in schools is becoming all too common, moments like these send a dangerous message: that it’s okay to make fun of someone’s misfortune and to humiliate them in public for fun. We are showing our kids that it is okay to mock someone’s pain instead of showing compassion.

This was bullying, plain and simple, with stage lights and applause. And if we’re not careful, we’re teaching the next generation that being mean is acceptable and even rewarded. How did we end up here? When did we start treating other people’s pain as a show? Bella’s case is not one of a kind. We’ve seen this happen over and over again: trauma being used to get ratings, tears being turned into headlines, and women being told they have to keep it all together for the show.

Some might say that’s how show business works. But no, it isn’t. That’s exploitation and there’s nothing glamorous or entertaining about it.

We should talk about how the media often takes advantage of women’s shame. The pattern is disturbingly consistent, whether it’s reality TV setting women up to be shamed, talk shows baiting vulnerable guests for views, or award ceremonies like this one forcing a confrontation that never needed to happen. The main idea is that your pain is only worth as much as the clicks or views it gets.

The aftermath makes it worse. Many people who watched Bella instead of standing by her side mocked her, questioned her professionalism, and invalidated her trauma. Because it seems that when a woman doesn’t smile and appear “redha” through her sorrow, she becomes the problem.

But let’s turn the tables for a second. Think about how it would feel for a man to have to give an award to the man his wife cheated on him with. Would people think he was being dramatic? Or would we be outraged on his behalf?

People expect women to always be gracious and smile politely. Women are always expected to rise above and endure. But when they don’t, the reaction is quick. However, endurance is not the same as healing. And being polite when someone betrays you isn’t professionalism but emotional suppression that comes at a cost.

Mental health is not a joke. Emotional abuse leaves real scars on people. And being triggered on live TV is not something to be mocked or dissected for gossip. People should be kind and show empathy. But last night, there was no empathy to be found. Instead, we saw a media industry that cares more about viral moments than about people’s lives.

So let’s call this out for what it is: unethical, tone-deaf, and deeply irresponsible.

TV3 Malaysia, you had many opportunities to do better. You knew the history and what was at stake. And you still chose to be sensational over being sensitive. You didn’t read the room and let Bella down. And by doing that, you failed every woman who has ever been told to suck it up, “redha,” and move on.

If you defended the setup or laughed it off, I ask you to think more deeply. Would you have been as calm as she was if you were in her shoes? If the pain were yours, would you call it “just an award presentation”?

We need to stop making trauma into entertainment. And we really need to stop expecting women to be composed when they are badly betrayed. We need to make a clear distinction between storytelling and exploitation to increase ratings and views.

Bella, you didn’t do anything wrong. Your emotions were valid and it took a lot of courage to say her name out loud and present her that award. Many of us saw you as a person who deserved respect and dignity and not a humiliating headline.

To the rest of us: let this be a reminder that empathy should never be optional, especially when the cameras are rolling.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

Where Is God in a Universe That Expands?

A couple of nights ago, I found myself thinking about black holes and the curvature of spacetime. It wasn’t a planned deep dive into physics. It all started with a simple question: how can a black hole not be seen/invisible? That question led to one of the most intense conversations I’ve ever had. It started with astrophysics and then slowly turned into theology. And like most of the things I reflect on late at night, it made me more curious than it did give me answers.

I learned that space is not empty. It is a real piece of “fabric” that can bend, stretch, and ripple. This fabric curves because of mass, which is what we feel as gravity. The more mass there is, the stronger the curvature and the stronger the gravity. This is why a black hole’s pull is so strong: its mass is compressed into such a tiny point that even light can’t get away from it. The event horizon is the line that marks the end of visibility (what we can see). Beyond it, not even light can come back. It’s not that the black hole is an empty hole; it’s that our limited perception doesn’t allow us to see past a certain point.

But what excited me was finding out that time is also a part of this fabric. Time doesn’t flow evenly throughout the universe. Time slows down around massive objects because their gravity pulls on the fabric of space more strongly. Time goes by more slowly when there is more gravity. This means that time moves a little slower on Earth than it does in space. And time almost stops close to a black hole. Do you know that one hour near the black hole is equal to thousands of years on earth? That alone changes how I perceive reality. Time doesn’t go in a straight line; it bends or curves relative to the surrounding mass.

And then there’s the expansion of the universe. I used to believe that the galaxies are moving away from each other in some cosmic ocean. Little did I know that the space itself is stretching like an elastic fabric. Space isn’t moving galaxies through it; it’s actively growing and pulling them apart. And here’s the interesting part: this expansion is speeding up. But what or who did it? The scientists call it dark energy, and it’s a force in the universe that we don’t really understand. Dark energy makes up about 68% of the universe we know about. It pushes everything away from one another, making the space between galaxies grow bigger and bigger.

All of this left me thinking: where is God in all this?

What kind of God made the universe that keeps stretching, spacetime that is constantly changing, and stars that collapse and disappear into black holes that bend reality to the point of no return? What kind of God exists in that?

For a while now, I’ve been deconstructing my faith. I have questions that I’m sometimes scared to ask out loud. I grew up believing in a God who was all-knowing, all-loving, and in control. But the more I learn about suffering, physics, and history, the harder it is to hold on to that version of God.

But still… I still have faith in God but not necessarily the all-powerful entity on a throne somewhere above the universe. I still believe in a God that started all of this.

It’s possible that God isn’t outside the universe, looking in. It’s possible that God is the universe—the intelligence within the fabric of spacetime and the consciousness behind every expansion and collapse. He is not a puppeteer or a micromanager but a divine presence that orchestrated the cosmic mystery.

Two years ago, I bought a book by Daniel S. Zachary called “A Leap in Science and a Step of Faith.” He’s an astronomer. I went to one of his talks once, a couple of years ago. The subtitle of the book is “Seeking God for the Scientifically Curious”. I didn’t read it back then. Maybe I wasn’t ready or was still too scared to confess that I didn’t believe the version of God I had been raised up with. But what about now? I believe I’m ready to read it and slowly explore and find answers to my doubts.

The truth is that I’m not looking for a perfect theology anymore. I’m looking for a God who makes sense in a world where stars are born and die, time bends, and the universe is expanding to somewhere or nowhere. I’m looking for a God who can deal with my doubts and doesn’t get scared when I ask, are we the only intelligent beings in all of this?

The design is too accurate and intelligent so I tend to believe that we might not be the only ones. Some entity might be lying awake somewhere else, asking the same questions under a different sky. Or maybe we are alone, but I don’t think we have the capacity to figure it out. It’s just not possible.

I don’t believe in a God who needs me to do everything right anymore. I believe in a God who sees my reconstructing as a gift to myself. And if that means I have to float through this cosmic mystery for a while longer, so be it.

This drifting is holy.

And maybe God isn’t the answer I was searching for but the gravity that keeps pulling me back to the questions.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

Remembering Zara | What Boarding School Taught Me About Bullying

When I first read about Zara Qairina, I felt a sharp, sick pull in my chest. She was only thirteen.

They said she fell from the third floor of her dorm. Some concluded she had taken her own life. Others claimed she was bullied, and that her body had been placed on the ground to make it appear like she jumped. Her family believed there was more than met the eye. They said she had told them, more than once, that she was being bullied. And now she’s gone.

It brought me back to my own boarding school days. Like Zara, I was thirteen when I stepped into that world. I was still twelve when I received an offer to pursue my secondary education at one of the top schools in Sarawak. My parents didn’t want me to go, but I insisted. For three months, they said no—then, finally, they relented.

Back then, we didn’t use the word “bullying.” The term we heard more often was “ragging,” usually carried out by seniors. I can’t speak for others, and certainly not for what boys experienced, but I can tell you what I went through.

Had I ever been bullied? Yes. But I didn’t recognise it as bullying at the time. I wasn’t a timid student, though I was quiet. I always pushed back. So I didn’t label those moments as something serious. But they were.

The first time I was bullied was in Form 2, when I was fourteen. The girl who targeted me was also in Form 2 but from another class. She was one of the prettiest girls that year. I hadn’t paid much attention to her because I mostly kept to myself and my circle of friends.

We were both in PBSM (Red Cross, or Red Crescent in Malaysia). That year, there was a three-day camping event, and by chance, I ended up in the same group as a senior—a Form 4 boy she had a crush on. I didn’t think much of it. He was just another teammate. However, she was consumed with jealousy. She began spreading rumours about me and told others to avoid me. One by one, people pulled away. I didn’t notice at first, but eventually, it became clear. My belongings were misplaced. My cupboard was ransacked. I suspected someone had even read my diary.

Friends gave subtle hints, and my instincts pointed to her. They had proof, but none of them dared to confront her. Meanwhile, she continued to pursue the boy; however, it was unsuccessful. Then, one day, as quickly as it started, the bullying stopped. She became friendly again. I never asked why. Maybe she realised the boy was never going to be hers, or maybe she just grew tired. Eventually, we became friends throughout the school years. And guess what? We’re still in touch to this day. And yes, I forgave her.

The second time it happened, I was in Form 4. This time, it came from the boys in my class. They bullied everyone, and I was no exception. They called me names—some rude, some degrading. I was upset, of course. But again, I fought back. I reported them to the disciplinary teacher, and they were punished. The bullying stopped. And funny enough, we all became friends. Some of them now hold director-level positions in the public and private sectors. One of the most notorious is now a respectable police officer. I sometimes wonder if he remembers any of those incidents, but I’ve never bothered to ask.

So how did all of this affect me?

It taught me that the world can be a cruel place. It taught me that not everyone is your friend. It taught me that bullies often prey on the quiet ones. And it taught me that sometimes, the only way out is to speak up and push back.

I believe Zara was a brave girl, and I believe she fought back too. But the system failed her. Somewhere along the way, someone didn’t listen and take her seriously. And now, we are left with heartbreak and unanswered questions.

Many Malaysians are shaken by her death. The police are still investigating. Until the investigation concludes and all suspects are questioned, everything remains speculation. But whatever the outcome, I hope the truth surfaces and justice is served.

And I hope we learn something.

We cannot romanticize boarding schools as character-building institutions while ignoring the rot beneath. We cannot continue to let children suffer in silence because “that’s how it’s always been.” That was my mentality back then. I thought ragging was normal, just a part and parcel of school life. All I had to do was endure it and be courageous enough to fight back.

But I was wrong. Bullying, no matter the form—is never normal. It is cruel, and it should be recognized as a crime under any law.

We have to be better. Not just for Zara, but for the next thirteen-year-old girls or boys who still believe they are safe.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

Pompeii’s Water Boy and the Curious Case of the Calamity Mushroom

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This is my 102nd post on this blog. I could’ve gone deep and reflective, writing about growth or gratitude or my journey so far. Instead, I’m giving you a man with water jugs and what appears to be a very confident, very unnecessary “thing” between his legs.

I was just going about my day when I came across a picture of this Roman mosaic while scrolling through Instagram. It was a harmless scroll and the account is offering historical tidbits. I thought I would see broken pottery, ruins, and maybe a few faded frescoes or ancient skulls and stuff. I didn’t expect this guy would be there.

It was a mosaic of a man carrying water jugs with the confidence of someone who knows he’s being watched. His muscles flexed, and his hips are a little tilted. I guess he is the original water influencer? But what really caught my attention and shamelessly wouldn’t let go?

His private part. Yup.

It was not a bulge smacked in between his legs. It was exposed. Damn. How scandalous. A big, bold mushroom swinging like a pendulum between his thighs. I looked at the screen for a long time, about thirty seconds, before whispering to myself, “But why?”

Was it supposed to be a symbol? A warning? A flex? A symbol of fertility? Or was it an inside joke from an ancient Roman tile maker who was just trying to make a boring work order more spicy? Imagine the scenario. The customer probably said, “Make it tasteful.” The artist replied, “Got it.”

The mosaic seems to have been the entrance to the caldarium, or hot water pool, in Menander’s House in Pompeii. That makes it even better. Can you picture walking into a spa and being met by a man with jugs in hand and a strange mushroom situation?

Welcome to the ancient Roman hot baths, where the water isn’t the only thing that’s hot. This might seem a little out of character for me, since I usually write about personal reflection and cultural memory. But really? Sometimes life puts a mushroom between your legs and dares you not to laugh. And at that point, you just give in and be silly. So just chill.

But after I stopped laughing (and I mean really stopped; it took a while), I became curious. Why would a Roman artist make a mosaic of this? Sure it wasn’t just for fun, right? So I asked ChatGPT and this is where things get interesting:

Art historians think that what we’re laughing at could be a waterskin, which is a leather pouch used to hold liquids. They were often shaped like penises (I don’t know why) and people carried them between their legs to keep their hands free.

So, no, it might not be an ancient anatomical exaggeration but a useful accessory. But still, they could have shaped it differently. I think many people are aware that the Romans were no strangers to sexual symbols. Their art, buildings, and even things around the house often included:

Phallic symbols as a sign of fertility, power, or protection (yewww).
Mosaics of sex in bathhouses, bedrooms, and garden walls (cringe).
And a general cultural comfort with the human body that was much less squeamish than our modern-day society.

Some historians say that mosaics like this at the entrance to the caldarium could have been:

A fun reference to the sensuality of bathing culture.
A good luck charm that kept evil spirits away (phallic images were thought to do this. Imagine a wife saying this to her hubby, “Honey, I think the place is haunted; why don’t you strip down?”) But I digress.

Romans weren’t shy. Their bathhouses were shared, their jokes were dirty, and their art was often obscene. So, it could be a waterskin or a nod to something more suggestive. The fact that it’s not clear might be the whole point.

And you know what? That makes me love this mosaic even more. Maybe it wasn’t just meant for wall decoration. It could have been a reminder to not take life too seriously. We should own our stride, haul our jugs with pride, and march into the steam with a suspiciously shaped mushroom and not a hint of shame in our hearts.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

Why Andrea Gibson’s Death Hit Me Harder Than Our Movie K-Drama

This past week was hard because Andrea Gibson died, and I’m still trying to figure out what that means. I never met them, but their death feels strangely personal to me. But if you’ve read Andrea’s poems, you know exactly why. Andrea’s poems aren’t just pretty words but they are pieces of themselves they left behind. They are bloody, honest, and vulnerable.

I also watched Our Movie, a Korean drama about the slow, painful journey of dying and saying goodbye, that same week. The themes of death, memory, and love all fit together, but my response to each couldn’t have been more different.

Our Movie is exceptional. The cinematography is soft and dreamy. The acting is gentle, the soundtrack minimal. Namkoong Min plays Lee Je-ha, a quiet man who watches the woman he loves, Daeum (played by Jeon Yeo-been), die of a rare, incurable disease. She is calm, joyful, and completely at peace with dying. And he is steady, restrained, and almost stoic in the way he grieves. It’s not a bad drama; in fact, many people praise it for the gut-wrenching themes of death, dying, and hope. But for someone like me, who demands emotional rawness, it made me feel underfed.

I know the character choices were intentional. Daeum doesn’t fight her death because she is content and fulfilled. She has lived, loved, and achieved her dreams. She got what she wanted. Je-ha doesn’t break down or scream when he thinks of her. His grief is not outward but you still see it in his eyes and gestures. You see the grief, but you don’t feel it.

And maybe the show makers wanted to show us that some losses are quiet. Some people don’t break when they’re hurting. They simply retreat, bend inwards, and go still. But for me, that restraint made it hard to connect. I was waiting for something to break open. I wanted Je-ha to scream, cry, or do something that would show me how much Daeum meant to him besides memory flashbacks and stares into space. Oh, he did cry but somehow I couldn’t connect with the way he grieves.

The drama wasn’t wrong. It’s just that I couldn’t connect with it emotionally. And that made me think of Andrea.

Andrea Gibson didn’t whisper about death. They roared and cried on stage. They made you feel uncomfortable because their truths were so intimate. Their words weren’t polished or pretty; they were rough with honesty. Andrea’s poems made you feel seen. And that’s why so many people are mourning their passing.

Andrea wasn’t afraid of being vulnerable and real. They weren’t afraid of naming the pain, sitting with it, and saying, “You’re not alone in this mess because I’m here too.”

And maybe that’s why their death feels more real than a fictional one. Andrea was there for us in the kind of grief that makes you feel like your heart is breaking and your voice is shaking, and it reminds you that this life is fragile, but it’s also worth feeling everything for.

I realized this week that I don’t just want beauty in art. I want pain and emotional bruises. I want to feel the grief and not just admire it from a safe distance. And I’m not ashamed of that anymore.

It’s not selfish to want art that speaks your emotional language. Our Movie was very well made but I think it’s okay to say that it didn’t satisfy me on the level that I had hoped for. The way I live—intensely, with longing, and an endless desire for truth—shapes my expectations. So when something falls short of that, I notice. And I’ve learned to be honest about it.

Maybe that’s the reflection for this week. This is not a review or critique. It’s just a simple truth that some stories observe grief and others enter it with you. And this week, Andrea Gibson reminded me that I will always need the latter.

I’m grateful for the reminder. And I hope that when my time comes, I’ve written even a little bit as honestly as Andrea did.

Rest gently, Andrea. And thank you for the gift of your words.

I leave this excerpt from Andrea’s poem, Love Letter From the Afterlife. You can read the complete poem on their Substack. Mind you, the imagery in this poem is breathtaking.

“My love, I was so wrong. Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined.”

And this poem, When Death Comes to Visit was written by Andrea years ago and released posthumously by their wife, Meg, today (25 July 2025).

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.

Let Me Write in Peace | What I’d Change About How We Treat Non-Native Writers

I hand-wrote every piece of my writing.

If I could change one thing about modern society, it would be this: how we shame non-native English speakers and writers for how they write and express themselves, especially when they use AI tools (Grammarly, QuillBot, etc.) to make their voices clearer.

We claim we value authenticity and diversity, but when someone’s English doesn’t “sound native” or they use em-dashes or contrastive phrasing, people often ignore them. People think a sentence is AI if it seems “too polished.” There’s a term they used to label such writing – AI slop. How elitist and gatekeeping.

But what if we (bloggers or writers), like me, are trying our best to make sense and be understood? This issue has been weighing heavily on my chest for several months now. And maybe writing this and putting it out here on the blog is my way of letting some light through that heaviness.

I’m a non-native English writer/speaker. I use tools like QuillBot to improve my writing and generative AI tools to help me explore new ideas. I also use em-dashes and Oxford commas because they make my writing clearer. I use contrast in my writing too because why not? Life is full of contradictions, and sometimes the best way to explain how I feel is to show it through a shift of perspective.

Apparently, to many people out there on the Internet, all of that seems to make my writing look like “AI slop.”

I didn’t know that using punctuation could be made fun of. I didn’t know that using too many em-dashes, or writing that sounds too polished, or having your ideas shaped by a tool could make people think you’re lazy or fake. I’ve seen again and again on the Internet how native speakers make fun of us for not knowing how to write “properly.”

I had no idea that after writing poems since I was ten, or writing hundreds of essays and poems over the years, and then returning to writing after more than a decade of motherhood, I would be made to feel like a fraud.

The sentiment is everywhere. It’s subtle but sharp and cutting. It’s loud and condescending when you already feel so small: “This writing sounds like AI. So it must not be worth anything. Plagiarism. Lazy. Fake.”

But these language purists don’t see the effort I put into rewording or rewriting my posts. They don’t see the weariness of constantly questioning each sentence to see if it sounds right or if it conveys the intended meaning. They don’t see the emotional strain of attempting to mold my voice in a language that is not my first. They don’t see the courage required to publish anything at all. Now this is beside the point but English is my third language (I’m fluent in 5 languages). Let me ask these gatekeepers, how many languages do they speak and write in?

I didn’t plagiarize anything. However, I used a tool, similar to Lightroom or Photoshop, which is used by photographers to enhance their photos. Like how designers use templates. And somehow, that’s enough for some people to reduce what I made to nothing.

It hurts. It feels like persecution rather than merely criticism.

Sometimes I feel too scared to publish anything. I’m worried that I’ll be accused of being lazy or being dismissed with “This sounds like it was written by a bot.” But what about the soul of my writing—pain, memories, lived experience? Can they be undone by sentence structure?

What about the truths inside the writing, may I ask? The ones about identity, faith, loneliness, grief, and motherhood? Do those not count just because I refined them using a tool?

What about the fact that I edit or that I write or that I give it a shot? What about the emotional labor that goes into the words? There is nothing fake or artificial about any of those things. So yes. I use tools. I use em-dashes. I use contrast. I use help.

But I’m the one who feels the words before they exist. I’m the one who decides to speak up when it might be safer to be silent. I am the one who sorts through memories, longings, and fragments of myself to shape what eventually gets read. There is a human behind all these, not some made-up AI text.

And I’m sick of being ashamed of that. Let us write the way we need to. Let’s use what we need to. Let us tell our stories, even if we do so with tools and a language that isn’t our first.

It doesn’t matter if it looks like AI or not. It’s whether it came from something real and true, like every word of this. They all came from me.

Olivia Atelier offers printables, templates, and art designed to inspire reflection, healing, and creativity. Visit Olivia’s Atelier for more.