About Me — Julianne Nguyen
I’m here for the introverts, misfits and the ‘divergents’
Please call me Juju.
I’m writing this at noon, with the birds chirping on a warm balmy day (Summer decided to visit early over here in Australia) and I can hear my father and sister singing in our family prayer room. . .
WHAT is Juju doing here in the world of Medium?
I first made a Medium account in 2016. I wanted to write. Behind the scenes in my reality, I was running around hoping to find something to latch onto, to give me worth, meaning and d̶o̶p̶a̶m̶i̶n̶e adventure. I was not ready as a person. I was not ready as a ‘writer.’
Fast forward in 2020, surrounded by four walls, a screen and a voice creeping in from 2016 again, I decided to log back in and did what I’ll call my #biglockdownclean. I deleted many of my old posts and diary entries on Medium – many were perspectives from my time in architecture school and vents from my millennial life born to migrant parents in the dawn of 21st century. I’ve decided to let that part of me go now (more for another time).
And here is Juju again after four years. In short, I had a FOUR YEAR GAP YEAR (stay tuned on my Medium for musings about my journey making short films and my trip to the Parliament of World Religions in Canada- read here). A lot to share! 2021 is drawing to a close and I’m ready to try again and be honest about myself and what matters – We need each other’s stories, skills, teachings to help us move in life. Period.
WHERE does Juju come from?
The land where you might have heard of ‘Steve Irwin.’ Did you know? He was our hero in preserving and educating about our Australian native animals. He talks of the fluffy bears (koalas) that spends each day notoriously napping or spends time hanging out with crocodiles. 15 years on from his tragic death by a stingray, Steve’s care for animals still surrounds us at the zoos, in the wild Australian landscape and in our hearts.
I’ve met Mormon Missionaries from Utah and New Zealand as well as Jehovah’s Witnesses from America and they all tell me:
“Ah, Australia — Nice people, good coffee, they’re pretty chill.”
What do you reckon?!
Most importantly, I wouldn’t be here without our Aboriginal indigenous elders, teachers and communities that nurtured this land. There is much to learn that unfortunately our ‘western’ schools did not tell us about what really happened when the first Europeans ‘invaded’ this sacred land.
Finally, I come from my mother’s womb – a womb I am learning to accept and appreciate. I come from grandparents that went through tough labour, tough working conditions to grow crops and a country that has been through tough political conflicts. Ah, Vietnam.
WHEN does Juju feel most — a l i v e ?
When I have my hiking boots on OR about to munch on a mushroom/tofu burger OR surrounded by deep silence.
If you weren’t here reading this, I recommend us to switch off our digital lives every now and then and sit with the trees.
WHO is Juju’s alter ego/s when she is not on social media?
Practically, I’m out in my local community helping my parish youth group or driving my siblings home from school ordriving my mother to fetch the groceries and trying to live the life of a ‘freelancer’ dream. Note: My four year gap year has come to an end … and I will start work in the field of Mental Health soon(also a story for another time). If anybody can teach me how to live a creative career — please give me and everyone reading this some tips. Fun fact: I wanted to be an artist #wheniwas7
Socially, you can find Juju at her local youth community centres, chatting to new young people who have recently migrated… cooking with them… playing games with them… and even singing with them.
Spiritually, I have a inner dialogue with myself. Talking to yourself is fine okay? Anyone who is a Life Path 9, let’s reassure each other.
Mentally, I can get in a reminiscent-kind-of-trance when I turn on my innate rewind-the-tape #travelbackmemorylane button. Travelling to the past keeps me sane and helps me move forward. From a mental health perspective, I am learning the art of c-l-e-a-n-i-n-g…
Emotionally, I play my four instruments to simply re-lease my internal angst, feelings and repressed emotions. I can’t choose a favourite between my Vietnamese flute, Chinese red drum, keyboard or ukulele. Everyone needs an outlet.
Culturally, I’m doing my duties as the eldest daughter of four younger siblings in a traditional Vietnamese home, living in a ‘modern’ western country. Millennials who are reading this — How do you ‘balance’ the two?
WHY is Juju speaking in third person?
Juju sometimes needs to step away from my ‘ego’ side. Being an INFJ /Type 5, Juju needs to learn to not overthink.#anxietyisstilltherethough
HOW can we connect with Juju as a human being?
Fun fact: I deleted my social media pages in lockdown last year… I am re-building everything again. Please be patient. It is Juju 2.0. I am back to being an amateur in life and starting life over again. Juju would appreciate all of your support :)
I am building an Mental Health educational resource page on Instagram: instagram.com/juju_your_guru
I am also trying to live my dream of being an artist and document my community-health-arts work here: instagram.com/jujus_art_journals
I’ve also decided to finally start a a blog about my #fouryeargapyear (coming soon!)
Okayyyyyy, for those who are curious about a taste of Juju’s FOUR YEAR GAP YEAR, Juju is currently curating all the humans she met — documented on her Linkedin. Check it out here.
Final question Juju:
What do you want humans to do after reading this?
I told myself to stop my perfectionistic voice and simply write and share.
Please follow my writings and journey here on Medium.
Chapter 1 story of my #4yeargapyear is about my trip to the Parliament of World Religions Conference in Canada. Check it out here 🌏
I told myself to say NO to outings/events and work on building something for myself i.e be on Medium more. For any Empaths, HSPs or Life Path 9s, let’s learn to set boundaries and allow some time for ourselves!
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I would like to thank for starting this – putting this out in the universe is a gift for us to share about ourselves!
Juju signing out now.
Juju feels like jamming to some tunes on her ukulele now…
Chao (goodbye in Vietnamese)
~ your vietnamese-australian millennial mystic
~ juju nguyen
