A new direction

Thatsafrotastic, what a treasure it has been to me. I remember first time creating this site, and how excited I was sharing recipes, photos and inspiring others to develop a positive relationship with food which, I still aim to do. However, something has come to my attention that I just can no longer seem to ignore. Moving forward, a part of this space I would like is to connect with the people by talking about life experiences, challenging topics such as mental health, vulnerability, accountability which can be very hard topics to talk about (This has already started and have loved the community of supporting one another everyone seeing the need for community). This is something very hard for me because I am a very private person which people might be surprised that I am moving towards this direction. The reason why I am moving towards this direction is to create authentic connection with regards what people may be going through that we may always want to express. As amazing as Social Media can be, the noise, obsessive ‘me culture’, consumerism, hiding behind vulgar and abusive language is not helpful towards our mental health which has led me to follow only the people who I truly find authentic connections rather than over curated photos and we have no idea behind the scenes. Nothing is wrong if you only want to show your best life. For me, sharing the highs and lows with the people I care about is something that matters to me, makes me human and is a part of life which I believe generates sincere connection with others. As much as I love food photography, sometimes, I just want to show the realistic side of how a photo is even though this may not be deemed as instagrammable. I will still take great food photo, however focus and purpose has changed. I would ask myself a deeper question, what is reason why I am posting and sharing this? To get the approval of others, to show how great my life is? Something for all of us to think about.

It is an unfiltered post and it feels raw even as I am typing this. However, I feel like it needed to come from the heart and hope people can also feel this. With AI which is great an interesting especially chatbots, there something about writing from the heart which a machine cannot replicate in my opinion which I sometimes take the risk of being vulnerable and writing this way, because I know someone out the would be thinking the same way.

I believe reflections with the right mindset and purpose can be insightful that could be an inspiration for others. As I am getting older, the way how the world views success is not that version for me. Today is a new day where I am embarking on a new journey that brings me a sense of purpose and joy which I hope can radiate to others. With the chaos and the noise that people are experiencing we need each other and build a sense of community which is a word that has been resounding in my mind.