Introducing Chloe Unknown
About Me
Growing up I was told my ancestors were Scots-Irish, English, and German Americans. Turns out that’s mostly, but not exclusively true, as these things often go.
I grew up a fish out of water in Memphis, Tennessee in the 1980s as a transplant Californian who was decidedly not Southern. I was raised by a feminist, social justice activist, single mom from a long line of matriarchal women. An avid reader and writer, I wrote poetry as an angst filled Gen X teen and got my degree in English, focused on British, Post-Colonial, and International Anglophone literature.
My parents are both folklorists and academics, so I grew up in what can best be described as the most eclectic living archive ever. As a result, I’ve always been interested in history, culture, and arts from a global perspective.
I’ve been exploring genealogy since I was kid making family trees for my Barbie dolls. Over the last year I’ve started learning about DNA and genetic genealogy tools, the history of human migration, colonial US settlement, and researching my own family tree in more detail. As I build my skills, I hope to shift careers to focus on genealogy consulting and write a series of stories inspired by my ancestors.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
As a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up, and later a poet/jazz bar/coffee shop/bookstore/dance club owner (yes, all in the same spot, how cool would that be!!!), but I accidentally fell into a 25 year career in tech during the Y2K dotcom era instead. I got sucked into the corporate America grind despite vowing I’d never work in a cubicle at a job where people “do lunch”. Life moves in mysterious ways!
My first midlife crisis around 40 found me divorced, running a hula hoop dance studio, and writing my first blog HoopStatic, focused on hooping as a tool for healing from trauma and sexual violence. Turns out being a professional hula hooper is not a very lucrative career choice for a single mom. No regrets though, as I learned many valuable lessons about entrepreneurship and created an amazing community building space that was close enough to my original multi-purpose dream.
I briefly returned to the tech industry before my second, post-covid, menopausal midlife crisis hit and I quit the tech grind due to burnout. I blissfully remarried, noped out of the United States just in time for our current Dystopian Hellscape, and moved to rural Costa Rica to focus on my physical and mental health. I now spend my days following clues about my ancestors, identifying the diverse tropical wildlife in my jungle garden, painting watercolors on the beach, and contemplating what I want to be when I grow up. Carpe Diem!
What are you?
I believe identity is complex and very personal, and am not a big fan of limiting myself with labels of any kind. To pick one country or even one continent to represent my ethnicity would be inaccurate, and I do possess the neurodivergent need to be specific and accurate, but I also recognize I was raised in the United States and benefit from white privilege. I started this blog in part to explore what American identity means to me, but also to understand and decolonize how race continues to define the way we see ourselves and others in a highly racialized culture.
In the interest of shared understanding, I identify as a racially white redhead and ethnically a Memphian by way of Southern California. While I have thousands of ancestors from all over time and space, I was raised as and identify as a white American. I also see myself and experience my life as a daughter of the world. Mostly I’m just Chloe, or “that hula hoop girl” from Memphis.
If you’re new here, start with my intro post: Hello World: Discovering My Ancestral Journey
And learn more about my plans for this blog and the variety of people, regions, eras, and historical topics we’ll explore: About
Follow me on social media for more musings. I like words so I’m mostly yapping on Threads:
Last updated: