Hello, welcome, and thank you for being here. 

Whether you are dropping by or staying to join the community, please check out my featured posts on what is a flourishing commons and my learning philosophy on being human. I hope you will find resonance in collective healing, (re-)learning what it means to be human, and sharing beauty. If you have a beautiful experience of your own to share, please consider joining the community for free and leaving the story to inspire others! 

If you are a member, check out the digital downloads that I'm offering to the community. They are tagged and can be found directly in the corresponding posts for the level of membership. Otherwise, this feed will consist of quick updates of my artwork, writing, and advocacy work. If you are interested in exploring a larger collection of my scholarly and creative work, please visit my personal website.

With love,

Van Thi

Sometimes I feel like Goldilocks, constantly seeking out what is "just right" for me, especially in that fuzzy space between what is public and what is private. Last year, I quit Instagram and Linkedin and started new on Bluesky and Cara, thinking that I could let go of performing a role in an old space and become more authentic in a new space. But I eventually realized that it didn't matter what platforms I used. It was the structure of social media that didn't work for me. 

I wanted to share things that gave me joy in a pure and heart-felt way but social media was triggering my insecurities and my childhood need for validation. I was probably picking up the energy of others who felt the same way as well. So, not long ago, I also quit the new platforms and decided to make my own image gallery page without followers or likes.

I wanted to use the gallery as a portfolio for my creative hobbies but also as a place to share what I found beautiful in the world. But that triggered a critical voice in me. It told me I was arrogant for trying to show off even when I wasn't a professional photographer or crafter. But the compassionate voice in me said that the world's beauty is found within me and inside of me. I am the observer and the vessel for the beauty that reaches me. The tools I use (and my skill in using those tools) do not define the value of that beauty.

What helped me through my dissonance was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's quote that "love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." The image gallery is an expression of my love and my search for love. But the love I want can only be found when the visitor is ready to see the beauty in me and resonate with that lens of beauty. 

After a few name changes, the page is now called Glimpses: A Visual Archive of Life's Beauty. It shows that even though individual glimpses may be brief, many glimpses together make an impression. Our lives may not be always beautiful, but our existence is always a resonance of divine beauty. Since the gallery is static, and I no longer have an image-based social media account, new "glimpses" will be posted on my blog. 

If you are looking for a new host to power your website or shop, please consider using my referral links below. Please note that these links aren't discount codes, just referrals used for supporting me. 

Fourthwall 

This site is powered by Fourthwall. As you can see, it can host online shops and a membership site with customised pages. It's completely free for the first 50 shop items. Use my referal link to get $10 in sample credit upon signing up. I only have 3 referals and will only get sample credits when you make 3 sales, so please don't redeem the code if you aren't serious.

https://link.fourthwall.com/join/van-thi

Carrd

Carrd.co is a one-page resonsive website builder, but you can use it to mimic multi-page sites, like my personal website, using sections. It's intuitive and affordable. The free plan is limited but the standard plan to use with a custom domain and more is only $19 USD per year. If you are considering signing up for a paid plan, please consider using my referral link. Unfortunately, you don't get anything out of it other than to support me!

https://try.carrd.co/48dlpcm9

Pagecord

Pagecord is the blogging platform I'm using at the moment for my blog/flash non-fiction writing. I like it because it creates simple and very attractive blogs without distractions. The free plan works really well already for text-only blogs, but the paid plan is still very affordable for extra features. I don't actually have a referral link for this. I just want to help an independent developer who seems like a nice person when it costs me nothing to do so. 

The second half of 2025 has been a year of resting, reflecting, and purposeful isolation for me. Even though it's a new year, my soul still wants to hibernate. Perhaps, it's only natural since the blooms and sprouts don't come out until spring. 

While one part of me rests, another part has been exploring new areas for change. It seems that whenever I change internally, I like to overhaul my website. So, of course, I'm making this post to share with you my new personal website.

I really like it. It saves me lots of money and it looks pretty and serious at the same time. I've had to scrap my old wordpress blog in the process, so I've now started a minimalist blog for my reflections. 

I've also done a few changes at A Flourishing Commons. I've moved the free downloads from the shop into the membership posts. In addition to the original ones I had, I added a guided meditation based on the forest therapy invitation called The Pleasures of Presence. Check it out!

I've archived some of the items in the shop (and in my head) to make room for some exciting ideas I have for showcasing my artwork. But those ideas will need some more time to germinate. In the mean time, thank you for being here to hold space for me/us/the world to work through whatever we need in order to make our vision of a better world come true.

P.S. If you need a new website host, I will be posting referral links in another post.