FAQ
How old are you? 26! Born February 21st, 1997
What’s your ethnicity? 23andMe says I’m a mixture of Vietnamese, Chinese, French, Thai, Indonesian, and Japanese. My parents immigrated to the US from Vietnam.
How tall are you? 5’1! I’m always told I look tall, but I think that’s because of my proportions
How did you get started on social media? During quarantine, I became obsessed with photography, so I began doing self-shoots with my Sony A6000 because I had literally 0 friends at the time. I started consistently posting to Instagram 3 times a week (which is insane because I rarely post now that Instagram has become so boring), and my following grew from there
Where are you from? I was born in Louisville, KY, and raised just outside of it in Southern Indiana! I live In LA now
Do you have any siblings? I have one sister who’s 7 years older than me, and no, she doesn’t have any social media!
Do you have any pets? I got a dog, who I named Bowie, in college when I still lived at home. Before I moved, I figured he’d be happier staying with my parents. Obviously, a house in the suburbs and a huge yard to run around in beats a yardless one-bedroom apartment in an entirely new city. After moving, I adopted a cat, but he passed away from a brain tumor in February of this year (2023). It was sad as fuck and not something I want to talk about because I hate (and consciously avoid) thinking about it. BUT! (updating September 2023), I’ve adopted a black cat named Luna:) Was planning on just fostering for a bit, so I began fostering her in June. But after a few weeks, felt like she was my actual child. The cat version of me. Aloof and guarded at first, making people work for it before opening up. And then once she does, you’ll find that she’s free-spirited, independent, playful, and has the capacity to be the most loving, sweet being you’ve ever met if you’re lucky enough to get chosen and let her show you that side of her.
Did you go to college? Yes, I graduated early (and with honors) from University of Louisville in 2018, with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Political Science. And then I received a post-baccalaureate certificate in Entrepreneurship, with a focus in graphic design, from Indiana University in 2020.
What’s your workout routine? I posted about it here: https://brittanyngo.com/workout-routine/
What got you into writing/blogging? Writing has always felt natural to me. But the thing is that I have my own way of writing. I don’t care about grammatical rules or about writing “eloquently”. I write the way I speak. Because those mandatory books we had to read in high school had me thinking, “What in the actual fuck are you saying” after every paragraph. Using so many big words yet saying so little. And that made reading unenjoyable for a bit. Even though it’s something I had always loved. And that’s just another way our school system sucks our spirit out of us! Also, I wasn’t super close to any of my friends as a kid, so I spent my weekends reading and creating my own stories. I used to write and illustrate my own books for my parents to read. Honestly, English class wasn’t my favorite in school (art class was), because I didn’t have any interest in the books we were required to read or topics we were expected to write about. Openly expressing my emotions has always been difficult for me because my parents taught me to repress them. And to never tell anyone how I felt if how I felt wasn’t good. If how I felt took up too much space. Because then feelings become inconvenient to everyone else. So, journaling became my way of releasing whatever I felt. As you can tell, I hate following rules and being limited to what I can and can’t say. And that’s why I made this blog, so I can say and express whatever the hell I want:)
What would you do if not social media? I feel like that’s obvious, but either writing, photography, or graphic design. I went to school with the intention of becoming a political journalist, but I’m grateful life ended up unfolding the way it did. Because I think I’d be pretty fucking miserable if I had stuck to the original path. Because all those hiccups, all those detours, lead me to where I am now. And what I do now grants me the freedom (and time) to pursue and do whatever else I’m interested in. Like this. And freedom is probably what I value the most in life. Also, I think people forget that they don’t have to commit to one path or one career in life. Honestly, that sounds boring as hell. You’re allowed to switch lanes, reinvent yourself, and explore other interests. You’re allowed to change your narrative. You’re really allowed to do whatever the fuck you want, you just have to give yourself permission to. You have one life, you don’t have to stay in one spot for the entirety of it. And it’s never too late to take action and move toward wherever your curiosity leads you.
What’s your big 3? Pisces Sun, Leo Moon, Aquarius Rising! Also an Aquarius Mercury and Venus, and Libra Mars:) I’ve always been into astrology, even before it blew up on Tiktok. It’s fun! Who cares!
Myers-Briggs Type? INFJ or INTJ! The sliding scale between thinking and feeling consistently falls somewhere in the middle. And I also consider myself an extroverted introvert. I like to plan things out ahead of time rather than do them spontaneously, which might come as a surprise. And I also rely heavily on my intuition, because I have an extensiveee amount of trust in myself. Which is a good thing! When people are like, “Believe in yourself!<3” I’m like, bitch, I do! A lot!
Enneagram Type: 4w3! “The Enthusiast”, the description says I’m energetic & driven, desire significance & legacy, seek uniqueness & individuality, think creatively & efficiently, and am consistently genuine & authentic. Which, wow so true 10/10 accurate as fuck
What’s your favorite characteristic about yourself? I do whatever I want! Growing up, I was forced to develop a thick skin and learned to prioritize my opinion of myself over anyone else’s. I’ll always do what’s best for me and whatever will contribute to me living my best life. I don’t give anyone the power to hold me back. I also love how independent I am. If I want to go to a concert and no one can come with me, I’ll go alone! And I have! I go to most concerts alone. And honestly enjoy them more alone. Maybe that’s a control thing? Because then I don’t have to worry about anyone else fucking up the experience. If I want to travel and no one can come with me, I’ll travel alone! And I have! I’ve done countless solo trips and solo road trips. And I always have a good time because I genuinely enjoy my own company.
About Me
Figured I would make an About Me page. But I kind of detest writing them. I’ll meet someone, and the moment they say, “Tell me about yourself!”, I’m already coming up with excuses to leave. Because booooo boringgg. What? Do you want me to stand here and give you some fun facts so you can put me in a box and categorize me? I could tell you how old I am, what I do for a living, and where I’m from like I did above. And, yeah, those are some things about me, but we’re all multifaceted and so much more than a few minor facts. What’s that one quote? “We are greater than the sum of our parts,” or something like that. Sooo true yeah go off.
Ok nowwww let me talk about myself! I enjoy perceiving my life as one long (maybe? hopefully?) story. And if it was a story, this would be the superrr super brief (to me) backstory:
Despite how much shit I ramble on about on here, I actually had a huge tendency to be more reserved growing up. Because of the environment I grew up in (rough, abusive, but let’s not be weird as fuck, in an insufferable way, and make trauma a competition), I developed the belief that I couldn’t trust anyone. Like, everyone’s hiding their true, sinister intentions! Superb mindset to begin life with. So I felt the need to protect myself from any potential danger. I needed to feel safe and comfortable to open up. Because if I’m not careful, if I share too much, people will use all this information against me!
And because it took me longer to warm up to people, they described me as “shy” or “quiet”. And that held me back for a long time. At times when I yearned to open up, people talked over me, spoke for me before I could even speak for myself. Saying, “Well Brittany just has nothing to say!” in response to someone asking me, I repeat: asking ME, why I didn’t talk more. And what! Absolute bullshit! Because I did have shit to say. I had sooo much shit to say. Especially about them! My mind is racing! Always! In a nonstop continuum. To the point where I spend multiple nights wide awake because my mind won’t shut the fuck up. In fact, there’s never a moment where I am not having a thought! There was so much I had to say, but I felt like I couldn’t. I held myself back and said, “No, I’m shy. I must be this shy person they tell me I am. This is me! This is all I am! Just shy little Brittany!” This thought kept me in the box that I was forced into. I had to stay put. And honestly, that was probably the people-pleaser in me as well. Wanting to be who they wanted me to be, even when that wasn’t me at all.
It wasn’t until college, in a new environment, surrounded by new people, that I could finally reinvent myself and be who I wanted to be. And I did. I was finally free from the shackles of the “shy” label. I began allowing myself to actually be myself:) And then a bunch of shit happened during that period of my life. Some good! Some not so good! Some of it I wrote about on here!
But fast-forwarding, I hit rock bottom in June 2021. Specifically, in San Diego. And that forced me to grow. A lot. It was like my wake-up call to get my shit together. To really evaluate who I was and decide whether or not I liked that person. I didn’t. I didn’t like who I had become. It’s like I had lost the part of myself that felt excited about life. The part of myself that always strived to be a good person, that woke up feeling motivated to reach my goals, that genuinely loved and took care of me. And then the healing began.
I’m kind of obsessed with fresh starts. Like how I gave myself a fresh start in college, I gave myself another in August 2021. 2 months after hitting probably the lowest point of my life. I drove across the country from Indiana by myself, to my new home in LA. Not knowing a single person. But luckily I’m not the “shy” kid that people made me believe I was growing up. So I put myself out there, made a ton of new friends, and really built a whole new life for myself that I love.
And as I’m writing this, it’s March 2023. I’ve learned that healing isn’t some final destination you reach. Sometimes you fall and bruise your knee. A few weeks go by, and it eventually heals. But then maybe you fall 2 days later and it gets bruised again. Well, that’s okay, because it’ll heal again too. You can’t expect to never get hurt again just because you healed before. There’s always a chance you’ll get hurt again, but it’s nice knowing that you’ll always heal. Just as you’ve always done in the past.
Life is filled with a cycle of fluctuating stages, circumstances, and emotions. But at this present moment, I feel at peace, grateful, and in love with life