The Simple Life Finds... The year of the Self Care, Self Healing and Self Rediscovery in 2025

As the year of the Wood Dragon gives way to the Wood Snake this Lunar New Year, I wanted to reflect and just express my heartfelt gratitude to the mighty Dragon, and all the wisdom and strength it has showered upon me for the past year.

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2024 was the year of aspirations and transformation goal settings. It was the year of many moments of self reflection, self healing and self rediscovery. I had just found my bit of freedom from being a 24/7 SAHM after my youngest started primary school last year... but I was also feeling disoriented. I had lost myself in transition. Who am I beyond "mom"? After almost 15 years of just giving my all to nappies, school lunches, enrichment classes, breakfast, dinner, etc, I suddenly had no idea who I was, beyond the role of a mom and wife.

One would have thought I'd be cheering and celebrating my liberty going for high tea arvos sipping margaritas, or heading to the shopping mall cafe to just spend my lazy mornings. But no, I did none of that. Instead, I poured even more energy into the home, into chores, into everything, except for myself. This went on for another six to nine months, until my husband decided to put a stop to my lack of effort to spend time on myself. He sat me down to have a heart to heart chat, and it ended up with me crying telling him I just didn't know how to. How do I rediscover myself after years of putting my family first?

However, my lovely husband was very patient with me. He never once rushed me back to the work force, and told me to at least take a year to really take time to rediscover myself before deciding on anything. So for the rest of the year, I slowly began to take a little time out for myself from time to time, like taking an hour or so every couple of mornings to do yoga or home fitness, or to read a book before I started with my chores. I had to constantly remind myself that I deserve to take care of my physical and mental health too. If my cup wasn't at least half full, I wouldn't be able to survive the long run. So instead of trying to fit a million and one things into a day, I started replanning my daily chores into a more doable list. I learned that it's okay if I don't finish my planned chores for the day, as I'm learning how to set a more balanced and healthy limit to what I do in a day without sacrificing my own well being.

The year of the Dragon brought shifts I never expected, challenges that pushed me, and growth that reshaped me. Now that I've slowly began to make small changes into my lifestyle, for the first time in forever, I felt I was finally reconnecting with myself. As the Dragon paved way for the Snake, I finally took the plunge to get back into blogging, and hopefully into some content creating in the near future. I'm still exploring and learning about the social media world, but I'm happy taking it one step at a time to see where the future leads me.

I'm deeply grateful for the unwavering support of my family, especially my husband and children, who has been so patiently grounding me throughout my journey. I am humbled to have my close-knit circle of besties, who have stood by me every step of the way.

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For any stay-at-home mother reading this, who is on the same boat, know that you're not alone. It's not an easy journey, I implore you to breathe, and simply embrace this time of self care, self healing, and in the process, self rediscovery. Let the year of the Wood Snake be the year of shedding old skins. Let this be a time to pause, reflect, and realign ourselves to work towards the next phase of our lives. Let go of any guilt you may feel about spending time and effort on yourself. Think about what made you happy before you were a mom, what skills or hobbies have you set aside and would like to rediscover your passion for it, take a class to learn something new, or consider going back to the workforce if that is what you choose to pursue. Let's make this the year the year of adventures, let it be the year of self care self healing and self rediscovery. I will be there to cheer you on 🙌🏻