Last month, I published a post about Jamaican Patois. The response was overwhelming. Naturally, there was an increase in trolls, but more importantly, I connected with a lot of great people I might never have reached otherwise.
Since then, I’ve received a lot of commendations on older posts, special requests for new ones, and recommendations for topics readers would love to hear my thoughts on.
This isn’t a new phenomenon.
I once built an entire website because my college friends kept asking me for advice on how I aced school. Earlier this year, I wrote a 5-piece short story series after receiving a special request from a reader.
Last month, I went hiking in New Hampshire based on a recommendation from a WordPress reader. I then vlogged about all 8 trails I did, because my Junior Editor has long suggested I try it. And this month, I’ll be checking in with you guys on my NaNoWriMo progress, also by special request from a reader.
I won’t be building any new websites to dedicate to a topic, or taking any more trips this month, but I would love to hear more from you guys about topics you want to see me explore on my blog.
Maybe you read a post I wrote, and walked away with questions I could answer via a followup. Maybe you’ve seen something in the news lately, and wondered what my stance is, based on social justice posts I’ve written in the past. Or maybe you’re just wondering what kind of advice I might give about an issue we both share.
Whatever your reason, feel free to drop your suggestions in the comments below or shoot me an email, instead.
I’m all ears!
Alexis Chateau
Publicist & Lifestyle Blogger
Love your regular travel blogs, can you please do one on Mental Health.
Thank you, Chris. This originally started out as just a travel blog, and then expanded into cultural and self-improvement posts.
I’m not sure I’m the best one to do a post on mental health, though. I’ve survived depression and thoughts of suicide due to trauma. Once I was no longer in that situation, and I made my peace with the trauma, I was past it. Never went to therapy. Never took a pill.
I’m also not an emotional person by nature, so nothing truly bothers me for long. As a testament to that, some of my friends call me Android, and one boyfriend “affectionately” compared me to a blender. 😂
As a result, I have a hard time understanding depression that arises just because. I have no other experience with mental health outside of depression.
I did write a blog post which covered the experience I mentioned though. You can find it here: https://alexischateau.com/2017/02/24/how-to-build-a-more-positive-you/ . It talks about how to remain positive in spite of personal struggles. Hope it helps!
I too treasure your status as an “outsider” to American culture. You stand with one foot in each place and bring, therefore, a special eye to things. I would love to hear your thoughts about the United States, promise vs. reality.
Thank you, Elizabeth. The promise versus reality is a common conversation I have with other immigrants.
The problem is, whenever Americans are present they are outraged by where America stands against our original expectations 😂 But when have I ever not spoken my mind?? 🤔 This is definitely something I will work on.
Thanks again!
Expand on that in a post. That is intriguing.
I should lol
One cussed me out. 😂 Actually several have, but there was one paricular one who told me I was ungrateful for my “privilege” to be in the United States, and it was terrible of me to make such disparaging remarks about my “host country”. I was going to ask him since when does privilege come at $3000 immigration fees, but I left it alone.
If you’re wondering what even prompted that, I observed to him that I had only met 3 Americans in my entire life (having been coming here for 18 years) who did not do weed, or other forms of drugs. And I mentioned that it’s interesting considering that Jamaica is the one with the weed rep, but I know many who don’t smoke. No one in my family does. Nor do I.
He admitted to smoking weed, but then simultaneously told me how dare I call Americans junkies. I said no such thing. I worded it exactly as I did here. I even screenshot the convo. Should have it somewhere.
Especially in these times, Americans (both liberal and conservative) are extremely sensitive about America and its current image.
And apparently when you’re an immigrant, it’s considered rude to make honest observations about the place you PAID THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to live in. Go figure…
I’m glad you expanded on this. I had totally misunderstood you thinking Americans were agreeing with you. You need to hang out with different people! Around here you would just get an “amen” when you talked about the disparity between ideal and reality.
Oh, I can agree with you on that about New England. That, for sure, was true of everyone I met there. I would say it’s also true in conversations with most minorities everywhere I go, but not the Whites in the south.
I mostly hang out with other immigrants here. My closest friend here is from Britain, White guy, love him.
But many Southern Whites will make people like me lynch ourselves 😂
There’s a fine line between patriotism and brainwashing! You New Englanders have it right!
My husband couldn’t believe it when I told him about your conversations in Atlanta.
Haha, I don’t doubt it. Is he from down south?
Even I can’t believe it sometimes. My Jamaican friends say when I meet people like that it’s fate. I’m supposed to magically talk sense to them. 😂
He is from the south! Alabama, in fact. But he still can’t believe the ignorance.
He is a unicorn southerner, I am sure. Don’t let them find about him. He might not be safe 😂
Atlanta is the second-most segregated city in the US though. Chicago is first. So that really affects the us versus them mentality people walk around with, here.
I got to tell you, this business in Alabama with someone defending Roy Moore because Mary was a teenager when she had a baby with Joseph takes the cake. But my husband said, “Alabama will always be Alabama!”
Hahahahahaha! Well Atlanta will always be Atlanta!
I saw the #RoyMooreChildMolester trending on Twitter a few minutes ago. I peeped through the comments a bit, and then excused myself.
Great twitter tag. He is such an obvious creep. I love that he left his underpants on!
LOL I’ve yet to read up on the full story. But now I think I’ll have to, after all the madness on Twitter.
I always enjoy learning new things: the word usage, the cultural differences, your viewpoint as an immigrant… These are important to me, because I believe diversity is a good thing. I believe that understanding cultural or language differences helps us understand each other better and helps us connect on a heart level. I believe that different is good, that variety is the spice of life, and that a variety of differences is what makes the world such an amazingly beautiful place. So, I guess that’s me asking for your insight into not only the differences between American and Jamaican cultures, but also the different cultures you’ve experienced within the various regions of America (or Jamaica, or other countries)
Thank you, Cynthia! I too believe that variety is the spice of life. That is quite often said in Jamaica, as well. Though sometimes it’s said by men with a smirk, as a hint at why they cheat 😂
I will definitely work on more cultural posts. That seems to be the most common requests I’m getting here. I have a lot of Jamaican ones planned, but I’ll see if other immigrants are willing to share their own experiences with me.
My dad, for instance, is Haitian. Almost everyday, the conversations amongst me and my parents are our cultural differences between each other and in America. If you guys could be a fly on our wall, haha! But I’ll do my best to transfer that here.
Thanks again!
Alexis, you’re a wayfarer in the States and enjoying it. You must be writing in your blog about you want…you say interesting things.
Enjoy the muses in your side.
Besos y ánimo
Perk up to future !
Thank you! I do write about what I want, but my adventures have been positively affected by taking advice from readers, like my New England trip. So I’m soaking up the inspiration! 😄
😉😉😉👍👍👍👍😘😘😘😘
Hi Alexis! I’d love to hear more about your experiences as an immigrant, since that’s a topic I don’t know much about. I’d also be happy to learn more about Jamaican culture and life.
I would really love to talk more about that actually. Maybe not just my own experience, but other immigrants as well.
I’ll definitely be writing more about Jamaica, and our culture. So much to say. That’s one topic I likely have endless material on haha.
Stay tuned, and thanks so much for the suggestions.
How’s your thesis paper going by the way? Almost sure you mentioned one a while back when I was first planning my Cali trip ^_^
I miss your fiction. The witches totally caught my interest. Are they coming back?
I’ve had a few requests to turn that into a novel. If I remember well, one of those requests may have come from you – haha.
I’m thinking about it, but there are so many stories in my head I’m trying to get out. I’ve still been working on fiction, every day, much more than before. But… I’ve been writing novels to be published; hence, no recent short stories on my blog.
I’ll make a note though. Maybe I’ll write something witchy again for this Christmas. This December will make the Moreau tale a year old, after all. 🙂
Thanks again!
I’m enjoying your b/vlogs very much. I haven’t had time to read everything but you’ve engaged me with your bold tales of moving to the states and I’ve enjoyed your energy with writing. Your eye on the cultural differences is appealing (I too am an immigrant from UK). The NaNoWriMo should be very interesting! I hope we get a report on that and any tools you might use (Scrivener?). Most of all though, I just enjoy your blogs about whatever you choose to blog about. It’s fun, fresh, energetic, and bold. You go girl!
Thanks John! That really means a lot to me. As you know, I really enjoy your photography as well!
I do enjoy writing about culture the most, probably because that’s the thing staring me in the face everyday as an immigrant. And fun fact, the friend I’m closest with right now in the states, is from the UK — Bristol to be exact. It’s amazing how similar our cultures are! What part are you from?
Thanks again for leaving such a thoughtful comment. I’ve had a very long day, and this certainly helped to make it better. 😊
My pleasure. I’m glad you have a friend from Blighty! I’m a Yorkshire man, born near Leeds and raised in bonny Scotland – near Inverness. My daughter is at Bristol University working hard towards her Phd. in Chemistry. I’m rather chuffed about that. Pass on my best wishes to your friend. You’ll know that we are all very happy to have so many amazing Jamaican friends in UK 🙂 The best parties ever!
Haha — Jamaicans do have quite the reputation for partying. And John (my Bristol friend) tells me, you guys have quite the reputation for drinking! I’m not sure if that’s a match made in heaven or hell! LoL
Wow! That’s a tough degree. Kudos to her for taking it on. I hope dear old patriarchy doesn’t ruin her chances for success in her field. STEM is a male-run area, and it’s not always smooth sailing for women, from what I’ve heard.
Is she coming back to the States? I know you must miss her.
It would be awesome if you did a post on time management in college! Thanks!
Hi! Thanks for commenting 🙂
All my college posts are at http://www.collegemate.org, so I don’t write about college on my personal blog. You can find posts there about working smart not hard, taking notes quickly from textbooks, budgeting etc ^_^
Thank you so much I will definitely check that out!!
Non prob. 😊