Hopes, Wishes and Finding My Element

 

FLOATING LANTERN OF WISHES. People of Singapore wrote their New Year wishes on white lanterns and let them float in Singapore River. Photo beautifully captured by my husband on December 2012.

New Year is one of my favourite words.

It is like a clean sheet of paper. It beckons fresh start. It creates the feeling of hope, of new opportunities coming, of changes for the better, and of only the nicest surprises on the days to come.

Looking back, my 2015 was not at all bad. I could actually only recall the good times and I am thankful I have this persistent Dory memory (remember the forgetful fish from the movie Finding Nemo?) and it is always like so natural for me to forget so many things, not just where i placed my keys but as well as the troubles and heartaches I had in the past.

My blog life was not as socially active as I wanted it to be, not as popular as other mommy or expat blogs, and I may have struggled to write in the last quarter of the year but I feel I have written some  interesting posts and I have made fruitful collaborations with wonderful people I met through this blog.

Among the highlights of the past year was a post on my family’s Chinatown Trip on Chinese New Year which became a hit among fellow bloggers, a positive recognition from globally recognized expat online community – Internations.org, and my entry post  Which Stylist Celebrity Mum are You? had me won $400 cash prize from a contest run by Flipit Singapore.

My family life, on many ways, had the same favourable moments as my blog.

While the planning was in Singapore, we were able to pull together a successful kiddie party in Manila for my bunso (the baby in the family) who turned 1 last year. The ate (the elder one) meanwhile scored well on her PSLE, got eligible for the express course and she is now enjoying her first day(s) high at Tampines Secondary School.

We were also able to successfully add in to the household our Domestic Helper from Manila and I shared through a post a few practical tips on How to Hire a Filipino Domestic Helper in Singapore based on that experience.

As the freshest days of 2016 is here, what I would love to see on my new, clean sheet of paper are… new adventures to embrace as woman, as a mother, and as a wife.

I wish to write on my blog as often as I could, do more blog collaborations, finish reading as many books, enrol in a short course, and plan more outdoor activities with the family.

I wish to travel more this year. I hope to find new inspirations to write and maybe finally answer the exercises on the book, Finding Your Element (by Ken Robinson), in between layovers perhaps. This book has been lying on my bedside table for ages. It was a Christmas gift given by my sister, Hazel, after a long heartfelt conversation I had with her back in 2014. The book has now turned 2 years old and still trying to get my attention. Hopefully it will succeed this year.

l also want to spend some lovely time with my husband and discover new places, eat good food together or try diving with him one of these days.

So there goes my hopes and wishes.

I would love to hear your hopes and wishes this 2016. Send me your thoughts through a comment on this post or follow me on Instagram, Twitter , Google+ or Pinterest (@expatmomdiaries) and feel free to open your heart. No right or wrong answer.

Live, laugh and love!