Vannessa - The Creative Blogger

When you hear the term “blogger”, the first thing that comes to mind is a person whose life is predominantly centered online. But what about the backstory that follows a blogger to where he/she is now?

Vannessa Lee has always had a flair for words and a natural inclination for storytelling. She grew up reading books in endless numbers, writing journals, and extending her love for words into every channel possible. Where kids wished for plushies and electronic games for Christmas, Vannessa hoped for a new collection of books.

Now at age 23, that dream hasn’t changed much – but the safekeeping of her life’s collection of books and written materials has been an imminent problem that grows little by little, as time passes by.

So what does space mean to someone like Vannessa?

“Space? Space would give me room to breathe,” she chuckled. “Space means that I get to hold on to all my memories. I know writers are known to be nostalgic and have habits of hoarding memories – but it’s true for me. I’ll never dispose of my first collection of Enid Blyton books given to me by my late aunt. She believed that I could write for a living one day, and through the many journals written and articles published – I’ve somewhat realized part of my dream.”

We showed Vannessa the varying spaces in StorHub that could fit the storage needs she never really thought she would require, and asked her what she would put in her storage space.

“All the books I’ve collected since I was a kid. I’ve thrown so many of them away while trying to keep the most important ones still, but yes – those books. That, and my old typewriter. All my old journals, the binded paper booklets of poems and anecdotes from my favourite authors. My photography projects blown up in full sizes on mounting boards, and all the cameras that have been well-used and worn out by now.”

Vannessa’s engaging blog entries speak to her gift as a writer and recently, the rediscovering of her love for photography. Previously heading seven other writers for a column in an online magazine, she now creates content for Socialyse, the social media arm of one of the major advertising firm. The intriguing part? She’s mostly introduced to people as a content creator, working in social media – an area where influencers are heavily utilised for social campaign success. Few of her clients know that Vannessa has 13,000 people following her on Instagram, from all over the world.

“I taught myself how to take photos!” she laughed. “Nobody taught me. I got my first DSLR at age 15 and kept snapping away, observing the details in professional photographs and doing everything by trial and error until I felt it looked good.”

Vannessa’s Instagram is filled with rustic pictures of healthy food, beautifully shot with a mere iPhone 6, as her blog is filled with recounts of her solo adventures traveling abroad. When asked about how space would allow her to live out her passions in bigger, brighter futures, her eyes lit up.

She talked about the stresses of a hectic working culture in Singapore, and the 3-hour commute she faces everyday. Time to write or take photographs whittles down a little more with each passing day. Space makes it tough to allow new projects to reside within her room, and without that space, it’s hard to go about creating new things.

We asked if giving her space would allow for a change in her lifestyle, and she replied, “It would free up my present space! All the old stuff – they can go into my StorHub unit. And my room can be for all the things I use on a frequent basis.”

“It’s not about hoarding things in an additional space for me. It’s about safekeeping memories I hold close to my heart, and allowing for new ones to be created with my newly found space.”