A Most Inauspicious Start

A most inauspicious start, indeed.

Yet a start it is. Which is infinitely better than not starting at all.

Allow me introduce myself. My name is Shun-Luoi Fong. I’m a creator, an adventurer, an entrepreneur, a husband, a father…and with this blog a writer. And since I like to think I can’t be pegged, I’d say that I’m so much more…but that’s for future post.

This is Lifeist, my home for exploring and writing about what it means to be human, and how to live a meaningful life of purpose and adventure.

Why am I starting this blog?

A space to process

I’m both a doer and a thinker, which can create for me quite the busy, and sometimes hectic, life. Every day for me is filled with thoughts, ideas, creations, and experiences that are generally very life-giving to me, but they can often get stuck in my own head space or physical space. It can quickly get overwhelming to process all of it.

My wife is often—with immense grace and patience—on the receiving end of my processing about life. And I have friends who also graciously share life with me, allowing me to process with them, and responding with grace, insightful questions, advice, and helpful pushback. But there is simply too much to life to put it on just a handful of people.

I need a place to more regularly process life, a place to get everything out of my head and onto paper…or digital paper in this case. This blog is my space to process all that I’m thinking, experiencing, and learning about what it means to be human, and what it looks like to live well.

A space to record

Fred Wilson provided a great reminder about the value of blogging publicly to provide a record and timeline on how one is thinking at a given time. Throughout a given day I work my way through a lot of thoughts, ideas and experiences. They arrive, are engaged, but then are often lost for good, forgotten as I move on to other things. This blog is my space to publicly record the things I’m thinking about and learning. And then in the future I can cringe (and learn and grow) as I revisit posts to see just how wrong I was on so many things!

A space to create

I can’t not create. It’s how I’m wired, and is one way I ensure my daily flourishing as a human. While this blog will serve primarily as a creative outlet through the written word, who knows, perhaps I will share in this space some of my other creations.

A space to engage

I’m not interested in speaking into the black hole of the Interwebs, or sitting here quietly gazing at my navel. That wouldn’t be helpful to you, and it would only stunt my growth as an individual. I love people, and I love engaging them in a way that honors our differences, celebrates our shared humanity, and collectively explores what it means to be human. So, even though I currently have an audience of one—if I can count myself as a member of the audience—my intent is to create a space to engage with you and others.

If the purpose of this blog—exploring our humanity and a life well lived—is attractive to you, I invite you to continue reading, subscribe to the email newsletter, and follow me on Twitter.

A space to give

My hope is that this blog is valuable not only to myself, but even more so to you my reader. And while my writing might be pretty messy and leave a lot to be desired, I nonetheless want to give freely of myself—my thoughts and ideas, and lessons that I’ve learned about living well. This blog, such as it is, is my gift to you.


So, welcome to Lifeist. It remains to be seen what the future holds, but let this be my beginning, and an invitation to join me in exploring what it means to be human, and how to live a meaningful life of purpose and adventure!