My 2020 personal blog About page

*Originally the About page for my previous personal blog (bylydiac)

Hi there!

Welcome to my digital corner on the interwebs! My name is Lydia and bylydiac is where I write, draw, photograph, document, and process all the things that live in my head. bylydiac is an online journal and sketchbook of sorts. It’s where I create and contemplate things freely and playfully.

bylydiac illustration — an illustrated self-portrait

asian woman positano italy black and white photo — a non-illustrated photo of me

I’ve always admired artists, writers, and creatives for being able to communicate their inner world to the outside world; something happening in their little world, and turning it into something coherent, beautiful, and share-able to others.

I’ve struggled with communicating to the outside world the blob of ideas I have. I am a journal-er, and would dump my brain things into my journal, but I’ve wanted to turn that into a digital medium for some time now and take journaling to the next level, which to me, is sharing what goes on in my brain with the rest of the world through various mediums, like photography, art, writing, and videos.

lydia colorful ideas turned into art and writing

The goal of this space is to express everything going on in my inner world and be able to turn my thoughts and ideas into something you can read, see, feel from. Perhaps what goes in my head is something that goes on in yours too.

Lydia and her pet corgi looking at the computer screen

The motto I try to thread my work together by is – Observe proactively, think critically, process creatively. The motto is inspired by my value in creativity, critical thinking, and personal growth. No matter what I am reflecting on or ideas I am working on, I aim to prioritize critical thinking (which is about asking questions and challenging norms), creativity (which is about fun and play), and personal growth (which is about self improvement on my own terms).

observe proactively, think critically, process creatively on yellow background

More About me:

I’m a third culture kid, Asian American, Taiwanese, diasporic Chinese, 1.5 Generation American immigrant, and all around see myself as a “global citizen”. I was born in California, grew up in South Africa and spent my teen years in Taiwan where I attended international school. I then went to a liberal arts college in the US and have since bounced around from the midwest, to the west coast and abroad. I don’t have one home, instead I have many homes because home is where my loved ones are!

where are you from? comic if lydia around the world — A visual TLDR of where I am from! Basically lived in the US, South Africa, and Taiwan throughout my non-adult life.

taiwanese girl in first snow in south africa and in life — the one day it snowed in south africa and my first time in snow!

I studied sociology, anthropology, and critical social theory in college. These topics changed my life for the better. Seeing the world through systems and context helped me make sense of the world and understand why the world is the way it is. I’d like to continue pursuing social science and make art from my learnings!
I am a traveler, explorer, and adventurer…all on the slower and lazy side. I like to travel and get outdoors, and am a big fan of going to remote places and getting to be in nature. I like to travel mainly because I like to learn about culture and see how people around the world live and interact with their environment. Anyways, I’m proud to be a slow traveler and be that person who stops a lot to take photos.

asian woman sitting on the ground while trekking in the himalaya mountains — check out my blog post on trekking in nepal in 2014!

asian woman sitting in positano — wrote about my short (and sweet) trip to Amalfi Coast, Italy in 2019

I have a hyperactive creative mind so art has always been a nice outlet. I’ve liked to doodle and color since I was a kid, and have been making art in some form throughout my school years. I also enjoy photography, the act of editing photos, writing (journaling), and digital art. I like to make art that is simple and colorful (I love to color but coloring also hurts my hand, heh). I enjoy how drawing and coloring makes me feel like a child at play again. Drawing, creating, and playing like my kid-self is something I try to live by!

Here are some paintings I did back in high school that I was proud of back then, and still am proud of now:

i am a failure original artwork by lydia chu — The meaning of this piece is that though the art announces itself as being a failure, it is still art, so therefore not a failure. Hipster high school me found it profound. Now I just find it a good reminder!

so it goes original artwork (surreal colorful) by lydia chu — No particular inspiration here besides Kurt Vonnegut’s “so it goes” that stood out to me. I painted with bold colors and reminiscent of children books, something I want to continue to incorporate into my art today.

In my teens and early twenties, I was into self-help books and devoured all kinds of mainstream psychology books. But as I grew older, studied sociology, and became more of a systems thinker, I now cannot unsee the relationship between the individual and the systems that shape us. I’m no longer a fan of mindless positivity, and therefore read less self-help books, but will still read the occasional book by psychologists or therapists. I like to reflect on the challenges in life, in creativity, and I like to read about it from others. The struggles we go through are not only deeply personal, but are also an universal experience and what makes us human.

asian woman by the beach in taiwan with illustrated words indicating she is a highly sensitive person, introvert, and INFJ — some things i’ve learned about myself over the years is that I am a HSP and an INFJ. Reading more about these traits have helped me so much in my personal growth and mental health.

And now for some random facts…

I am a dog AND cat person. I was a dog-person for most of my life then recently learned to love cats and now my social media feeds are filled with both dogs and cats.

Happy disabled senior handsome corgi in Taipei, Taiwan — A photo of Coco in his final days on a walk on a sunny day in his wheelchair. He was with us for 13.5 years and brought us so much joy!

taiwanese girl with disabled senior corgi at Taroko Gorge — Coco and I in Taroko Gorge, Taiwan on a solo roadtrip in 2020 for my birthday.

I’m a self-proclaimed water baby. I love being in all bodies of water, of whatever temperature, and can stay in water for very long periods of time. Being in water is when I feel most free and playful.

young taiwanese girl (me) floating on a donut in a swimming pool — swimming as a kid

26 year old asian woman river trekking in taiwan — river trekking & jumping from high places into water at 26

I enjoy watching Korean dramas, specifically in the romcom realm and also enjoy reading webtoons (also in the romcom realm). When my mind is tired, there is nothing better than curling up in bed with some wholesome cheesy cliche stories.
I’m a documentary-watcher and non-fiction reader. Since I like learning anything about society and culture, I am basically down to watch all documentaries! But first, I must muster up the intellectual energy for it…
I like to explore my surroundings. In cities, I like to cafe hop or do foodie things, and in nature, I like to hike, bike, swim around and take lots of photos.

i am always down to go to a cat cafe. this was taken at a cat cafe in Taipei, Taiwan

All in all, I’m here to write and create. I hope that what I create may also resonate with you. I’d like this digital corner of mine to be like a friend and resource to you.

Thanks for stopping by!
Yours truly,

bylydiac