Saturday, December 30, 2017

2017

My 2017:

1. Set up play therapy placement
2. Extracted my wisdom tooth
3. Paid off PTPTN loan with my EPF
4. Began homeschooling Little A
5. Threw a surprise birthday party for R
6. Resumed regular yoga
7. Completed play therapy cert classes
8. Decided to move to Aussie next year
9. Getaway to Bukit Tinggi
10. Commenced play therapy diploma classes
11. Budgeted + lots of home cooked meals
12. Getaway to Tadom Hills with the girls
13. Set up 2nd play therapy placement
14. Completed 100 hours of clinical work
15. Did lots of art & calligraphy
16. Ama passed away :-( 
17. Getaway to Bali

A year of balance between time for self-care, work and play.
A year of unanswered questions and self-discovery. 
A year of planning and hoping and anticipating and uncertainty. 
A struggle between being productive and having time for myself. 

Here's to an adventurous 2018! 

Friday, July 7, 2017

Mindfulness

Mindfulness seems to be the opposite of productivity. I like to multitask. I like to be productive. Maybe that's why the idea never resonated much with me. When I read How to Train a Wild Elephant & Other Adventures in Mindfulness by Jan Chozen Bays and tried to start some of of the exercises, I couldn't even get through the first week. I have not even finished the book yet. (So unlike me.) 

When I started my clinical work as a trainee play therapist, I realised that I am not in control of my mind. I look but I do not see. My mind wanders away. Far far away. I started meditating more frequently. I even did it daily at a point in time. Why did I stop doing it so frequently? Hmm, I guess I was actually kinda demotivated when despite my daily practice, my mind still wandered. Anyways, I do it weekly. Sometimes.

I can't recall where I read it, but Gretchen Rubin says, "it is better to do something every day, than to do it some days. For a few weeks, I have started incorporating 3 daily habits: exercise, brain training games and read. I thought 3 would be a nice place to start. I realised that once I started this, I am way more energetic. More disciplined. 

So, I decided to try out the mindfulness exercise: leave no trace. Basically, when you use a room, you tidy up when you leave, as though you were not there to begin with. I had a bad habit of dumping dirty dishes into the sink and letting them pile up, so I wanted to start here. It was tough, especially when I wanted to go right to bed after dinner and a movie. I made myself wash up. And guess what? I felt a sense of accomplishment and it felt good! I felt satisfied the next day, too, when I walked into the kitchen to see it all clean. It's tough when I'm pressed for time, but I think that this is definitely a habit I would like to maintain! 

Next, I decided to tackle my next bad habit, glancing at my phone at every red light! Why did I feel a need to do that? Am I so impatient? The exercise: focus on breathing when waiting. Waiting for the lift. Waiting for the traffic light. Focusing on the breath can help me feel more centred. 

This is the beginning of my journey towards being more mindful. 

"Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing." - Jon Kabat-Zinn

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Currently

I am currently

READING all about Play Therapy! Melanie Klein, Carl Jung, Laban. I love learning new things.
WATCHING Life in Pieces! Super funny sitcom.
LISTENING to the soundtrack of La La Land. Can't get enough of it.
FEELING a little under the weather today. Just had wisdom tooth removed.
LOVING life


Thursday, January 5, 2017

A quarter of a century

2016 was...interesting. I turned 25, which was a milestone? In some ways. Hence I shall list 25 things that happened in 2016!

1. Left Odyssey. When I leave, I leave a piece of my heart with the kids.
2. Stayed at Fraser's Hill for Valentines Day - and ran away from the CNY hot weather.
3. Went back to Tweedlewink Playhouse where we worked crazy hard and put in crazy hours and practically ran the whole place.
4. Hm things didn't quite work out in Playhouse so we left Playhouse. (Long and complicated story) Left another piece of my heart there.
5. At crossroads again...what am I to do next? Options options...
6. Decided to continue my studies! Pursuing Play Therapy.
7. Went to Melbourne. Experienced snow for the first time. Fell in love with Melbourne. Left a piece of my heart in Melbourne.
8. Took a break from work.
9. Wrote articles for The Sun.
10. Binged on TV series - Parks & Rec and Downton Abbey
11. Asked to go back to Odyssey. Bittersweet experience.
12. Started Play Therapy course. Learned so much!! So excited to embark on this new journey.
13. Spent a lot buying toys for my practice.
14. Turned 25!
15. Roller coaster journey in Odyssey.
16. Celebrated our 2-year anniversary back in Mines.
17. Ended the odyssey in Odyssey. Leaving another piece of my heart.
18. Year end holiday in Kuching. Loved loved loved the beautiful suite we stayed in.
19. Year end holiday in Singapore! Had a great time with great friends.
20. Spent too much on holidays.
21. Decided to try to apply to migrate to Aussie.
22. Decided to focus on studies in 2017 while working part time.
23. Happy to end a crazy year.
24. Looking forward to beginning a new year.
25. Counted down in a cafe with the whole place just staring at us.

May 2017 be a better year!!