Bella Charis
Multi-Dating as Honest Negotiation: Rethinking Modern Romance
The writer proposes open multi-dating—simultaneously dating multiple partners with full consent and transparency—as a corrective to the serial heartbreak, infidelity, and deception that characterizes many modern relationships. Rather than a justification for promiscuity, the argument frames it as a deliberate audition process for finding genuine compatibility, grounded in radical honesty about intentions and desires.
The Trap of Perpetual Beauty Standards
A personal reckoning with the impossibility of keeping pace with shifting beauty ideals—from childhood messaging about 'correct' features, through the adoption of cosmetics as armor, to a hard-won understanding that validation through appearance is a drug without a cure. The writer traces how beauty standards are both universal human psychology and manufactured cruelty, and asks what remains of us when appearance inevitably fails.
Revaluing What Matters: Beyond Intelligence and Beauty
The writer reflects on abandoning sapiosexuality—the attraction to intelligence above all—after recognizing that brilliance without kindness can be as hollow as beauty-based attraction. She argues that Cameroonian millennials, herself included, have inverted their value systems, elevating arrogance and performance over integrity, loyalty, and genuine presence.
Leaving the Comfort Zone: On Refusing the Prescribed Life
The writer reflects on a painful lesson in music—being exploited by a foreign artist—that forced her to release an album hastily, only to discover it was the bravest and most beneficial move of her life. She considers what it truly means to step out of societal patterns and build a life on one's own terms, without apology or perfectionism.
Speaking Up: Beyond the Myth of Suffering in Silence
This essay challenges the cultural valorization of silence and emotional restraint, arguing that suppressing pain and grievance damages mental health and perpetuates cycles of abuse. The writer proposes a measured alternative: thoughtful disclosure, honest self-reflection, and compassionate listening as tools for personal and collective healing.
Your Emotions Are More Important Than You Think
This reflective essay argues that emotional awareness and expression are essential to human flourishing, not signs of weakness. Through personal anecdotes—a toxic relationship, unrequited attraction, and self-discovery—the writer demonstrates how facing difficult emotions leads to growth, authentic connection, and better choices.
The Trap of Beauty Standards and the Search for Authentic Self
A personal account of growing up under rigid beauty ideals, only to recognize their constant, exhausting mutability. The writer traces her journey from shame to acceptance, examining how societies weaponize appearance standards while acknowledging the real social costs of ignoring them.
Aspiring Musicians: From Problems to Practice
This is the second part of a reflection on challenges facing emerging musicians in Cameroon. The writer moves past diagnosis to propose concrete solutions: skill-building, strategic use of social media, forming industry partnerships, maintaining financial independence, and cultivating patience through the long arc of artistic development.
The Chrysalis Trap: Why Cameroonian Aspiring Musicians Remain Unfinished
A musician reflects on the structural and psychological obstacles preventing emerging artists in Cameroon from reaching professional success—complacency, entitlement, underfunding, and fragmented industry collaboration. The piece names these patterns without excuse, and calls for individual accountability as the first step toward transformation.