TO BEHOLD BEAUTY

Love can’t be seen and so, beauty is the best showcase. You may not recognise love if it walked past you, but love undergirds beauty, which you see.

You may also not recognise Jolyn Kari Ng, yet she has travelled afar and now in homeland to extend love. The beauty in that translates to a project called Actspressions, a side hustle of hers to do small things with great love.

Actspressions is a reminder that the beautiful things is often found in the ordinary. From letters to calendars, it is about passing on love as one receives. The bottom of every calendar page can be cut off and passed on. The spirit of loving becomes clear as she shares her story.  

Actspressions 2020 calendar.

Where has beauty gone to?

Jolyn expresses very frankly about a phase of depression in her growing up years. Being diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 19, she grew familiar with suicidal thoughts and helplessness. If it wasn’t for the constant, daily, little things her family and friends extended to her, her life would have turned out quite differently.

Remembering a quote that she learnt by heart through the season, she says, ‘You actually heal by healing others. The first thing to do is giving itself.’

After a painful wrestle, she recovered. And this time, as a stronger individual ready to give. Actspressions was born in 2012 when she felt a deep sense of purpose that her little act of love can go a long way. Seven years on, she continues to tap on this platform to share her story and her hope.

Her struggle with depression also changed her outlook in life.

Beauty, to her, need not be found on the rat race that many Singaporeans chase after. Rather, it can be found in the little acts of expressing — through a letter, through a note, through a gift.

Beauty can also be found in extending a literal hand to those in need. She made a personal decision to fly to South Africa for six months in 2016 before returning to complete her Masters in Intercultural Studies in 2017. Her goal is to start a social enterprise one day with the same hope, love and joy that Actspressions embodies. 
 

Sharing encouraging messages through practical stationery.

Small things, with great love. 

Beauty in the eyes of the beholder

Some say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, yet Jolyn believes there is beauty that is universal as well.

She remembers how the affirmation from others about her works spurred her to start Actspressions. As a trained graphic designer, Jolyn took up a design role for some postcards in her church. There were members who came telling her that her works were beautiful, and that it is a gift she has.

‘We were made to behold beauty,’ she gathered.

In this age of mass consumerism, where beautiful things can be easily bought off e-commerce giants like Taobao, hers is a voice to add meaning to beauty.

Using her own savings to kickstart the project, she founded Actspressions and wanted it to be affordable for the masses. Over time, the beauty of her works has gained a traction. Many of her customers are either returning customers, or recipients of the gift who then chose to re-purchase.

Likewise, for Jolyn, the beauty of Actspressions lies not just merely in the aesthetic appeal of it, but the deeper purpose of it — to love those around her who are equally beautiful.

‘You actually heal by healing others. The first thing to do is giving itself.’ 

Actspressions website - a treasure trove of beautiful things. 

Beauty is tied intrinsically to how we define success, to what we appreciate and see value in. One of her favorite quotes is this, ‘The greatest fear shouldn’t be of failure, but at succeeding at things that do not matter.’

She is without any halo, but she has victory scars that tell of a battle won in spirit. If one may add, beautifully.

One of her favorite quotes is this, ‘The greatest fear shouldn’t be of failure, but at succeeding at things that do not matter.’ 

All photos by Jolyn Kari Ng.