Sometimes You Just Need to Laugh
Why Self-Care Matters Most When You Have No Time
“Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first; it means me too.” ~L.R. Knost
We live in a society that celebrates pushing through; burnout is often worn as a badge of honor, and many job descriptions state bluntly, “Must be able to perform well under pressure and thrive in a fast-paced environment.”
I’m very well aware that self-care isn’t a luxury; it’s essential. “You can’t pour from an empty cup” and “You must put on your own oxygen mask first before assisting others” are two of the most well-known quotes. And while they might sound like a cliché, they are …
Same Café, New Me: How I Found Freedom Without Changing My Life
“Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating change you do choose.” ~Michelle Rosenthal”
Today I am sitting in my favorite café in Venice Mall. I got my favorite seat, the one near the water.
I have spent countless hours here. I have cried here. Journaled here. Drawn here. Consoled myself here.
There was a time when this café felt like my only refuge from a life that felt too heavy to carry.
Today I am sitting in the same seat, drinking the same tea, looking at the same water. And for the first time, I realized something. …
When Your Imagination Turns Every Problem into a Crisis
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” ~Mark Twain
It started with a clogged kitchen drain. Or maybe the drain was where everything else I’d been carrying finally surfaced.
Regardless, the water wasn’t moving. It was so bad that some of it backed up in the bathroom sink. Baking soda and vinegar didn’t help. Neither did copious pots of boiling water.
I felt my jaw clench, shoulders stiffen, and breath shorten. My brain, seeing a break in my supposedly impenetrable shield, saw this as a perfect opportunity to create a disaster movie screenplay on …
The Pressure to Excel: When Success Feels Like Survival
“To tie your worth to achievements is a recipe for suffering.” ~Brad Bizjack
Children don’t just learn mathematics, science, and languages in school. They also learn what success feels like, what failure means, who they believe they are, and sometimes, whether they think they belong.
When I was in primary school, my school introduced academic streaming. If there were four grade seven classes, the highest-performing students were placed in the first stream, followed by the second, third, and fourth streams based on academic performance.
On paper, it made perfect sense. Students would learn alongside peers of similar academic ability, and …
How “Missing the Boat” Led Me Somewhere Better
A few months ago, I found myself wondering whether I had made a mistake.
It is not a question I expected to be asking in my seventies.
Like many people my age, I sometimes think about retirement, savings, and financial security. I look around and see friends who spent decades building stable careers and preparing for the future. Some seem to have arrived exactly where they planned.
Meanwhile, my own life feels harder to explain.
I have spent much of it following opportunities that interested me rather than opportunities that promised security. Looking back, I sometimes wonder whether I should …
