What’s Next for The Curious Jalebi?
Will you believe me if I tell you that I have written several versions of this ‘new post after a long time that has to explain why and what next’ only to abandon it?
After writing, I would usually swing between the next shiny distraction (that gave me just enough dopamine to feel like I’m accomplishing ‘something’), and despair at having failed again.
Cue self-shame, relentless chastising, and a refusal to knock heads with the realization that I can’t continue blogging like I used to because I am no longer that person in many ways.
Hair had been such a mysterious thing to grapple with for so long.
After I finally understood what works, how to make it healthy and soft, and what products to use, I went on to cement that knowledge through blogging and sharing tips with fellow peeps struggling with their naturally frizzy hair.
I have seen the curly hair community grow from scratch, when it used to be just Asha and Anjana’s blogs, exhaustive lists with product recommendations that the community would unearth by scanning and approving ingredient lists because there weren’t any ‘made for curly hair products’ and magical serums that seemingly transformed frizz into smooth tresses.
Fast forward to 2024, and not only have many Asian, and Indian natural hair brands launched, but there are also more bloggers and YouTubers sharing their routines.
There are sets for hair types like curly and wavy hair, not just clubbed into a single collection, with new brushes and techniques.
Consumers got more confident and will question any set method/tip to find and follow what suits them personally, even if it’s a chaotic (good) mix of healthy hair care and rebellious, creative hair colouring or styling.
There is a lot of choice for beginners now, which is a good struggle to have I say as someone who would wait an entire summer for a friend to bring back specialized hair care products!
So if there were more opportunities for me to blog about natural hair care, then why did I stop?
Well, let’s just say the pandemic ushered in a new time in my life.
The blog was earning well enough for me to quit my day job, and once lockdown started, the day passed by in Downtown Abbey reruns with my mom, cleaning and cooking.
I didn’t realize it immediately, but it is clear now that I felt severely burnt out because I hadn’t really dealt with and processed my dad’s death, and instead put all that anxious energy into hyper-productivity for a decade, and as a result, my blog thrived, but it did come at a cost.
I had also gotten engaged, so those days were treasured doubly by spending time with family and from the POV that I would be moving out soon. Also, like the rest of the world then, I had no desire to be productive.
Now after sweeping and washing floors, washing vessels, and cooking, my hair started to wind up in a bun more and more, until it became the only way I mostly keep my hair on a day-to-day basis.
The jalebi has become an immarthi since every day is a bun day now! (too much? sorry not sorry hehe)
Cue marriage new home new furniture pantry shopping deep cleaning new job organizing new cats new home more new cats new interests new friends..
And hair care (among other things) fell through the cracks. Until 2022, I had rituals for my hair and skin; I wasn’t lagging on self-care I now recognize from hindsight.
I do feel like a veteran in this space, and I have been called an OG by readers and fellow new bloggers, but to be honest, all that used to do was just remind me about how I have not been able to get back on the wheel and continue blogging. It started to sound like ‘has-been’ instead.
I started @ajournalybypallavi so that there was a creative space for me to express myself with writing, photographs, and videos because I felt very restricted and bound by what this blog had become.
For SEO, both search engines and Instagram, niching down was recommended, and I did just that.
But when my interest in curly hair care plummeted (and when I knew how to bring my curls to their best despite what it looked on a daily basis), I wasn’t able to write and talk about something else.
So the blog remained dead, besides a sporadic, random post now and then that I hoped would be the one that truly got me back to writing.
While I languished about how to either close the chapter or move on from this blog, I started a new job at a SaaS company and then became a freelancer at a content writing agency for B2B brands.
Parallely, family health emergencies started to happen at an alarming frequency and I spent most days in anxiety fearing for the next round, disassociating and indulging in habits that helped me feel safe but have led to poor health and outgrown habits.
A year plus of therapy, getting and understanding my ADHD diagnosis, and settling into my new home has now led to this niggling new voice in my head, sort of an incessant dawning of the truth that I do want to get back to writing, shooting, and posting.
My curiosity hasn’t died, just shifted its focus onto new, exciting things.
One of these interests is still hair because I now find myself struggling to find out what products suit my hair that have thinned down due to severe stress and hormones. I am eager to feel confident again, in my skin, and body.
Also, to push myself to be publicly visible after gaining weight has felt too vulnerable; some of the social media trolling I have seen on comments of posts by plus-size creators has up till recently felt like it would be too much for me to handle when I am mentally tender (no other word felt right).
(Boy, do I have a lot to say about how differently people treat you after getting fat!)
Now as my therapist tells me often, coming back to ‘(insert topic before I got distracted)’, which in this care is this blog’s future, I don’t have the full answer to what it’s going to become, but I am excited to find out.
I’m going to follow my interests and see where it goes, and hopefully, some of you might be along for the ride. Some of you may find it annoying that the content is branching into things you may not be interested in.
But here’s the thing, AI summarized results, new Google Search Engine updates to how they rank traffic, and my sporadic activity, have all led to a painful decimation of traffic and reach.
The silver lining? I don’t feel as bound again. If I branch out, it’s unlikely to reduce traffic than what’s already happened.
If by doing this I find my love to write and shoot again, I think that’s a win.
So I say, expect change. Expect posts about things I am interested in learning about, like tarot and mythology and what I’m reading.
Photography and videography experiments…new hyperfocus interests like screenplays, deep-diving into TV shows, or movies and what I learn from them, how I’m working through my ADHD diagnosis, my childhood trauma and grief, new recipes I’ve tried and loved…
And of course, curly hair care, but from the POV of who I am now, with my lack of time (available or designed so) for it, as I try to learn what should my new routine be, and test these new brands out.
Many of you readers who have stuck around have also grown up and taken on new roles and responsibilities, perhaps like me you too are interested in how to bring back health and bounce to your waves and curls after a long break of not doing so.
I hope you enjoy TCJ 3.0 (honestly, I have forgotten the new version attempts, but this one seems pivotal, but only time will tell).
No more splitting my interests into separate niched-down profiles to cater to the dreaded algo.
So to wrap up this post, here are some snaps from the last few years, curls et all, before I give this blogging shindig another go. 🙂
