Another year has come and gone, time for taking stock and New Year resolutions, evaluation of the past year and a chance to make decisions to do better.
With the passage of time and with it the experiences in the past 12 months, I have also learned and changed. It had been a hectic and at times tumultuous year, with various challenges in projects and commitments. I am proud I was able to summon the courage to forge the path I’ve always dreamed of, going onto tertiary study, working on my writing, as well as taking part in advocacy for the cause, for people without speech. There are some highlights, including presenting at an international conference, speaking at the Teachers’ Toolkit launch and working to finalise the story of my life experiences as a manuscript ready for publication.
Throughout the year, whenever I felt overloaded and anxiety and fears threatened to get out of control, I tried to remind myself of that I am not just creating a future for myself but paving the way for all others like me, people with little or no speech and often denied our voice. After letting off steam with my obsessions (water can be a great help at these times), I know that I have to keep going, to aim for what I would like to achieve. It’s true that visual thinkers like me find it hard to foresee how the future will take shape. Unless it’s on familiar grounds based on past experiences, it’s a challenge to make room for novelty and change. But like a snake that moults because it has grown out of its old covering, we have to shed our outmoded ideas and mindset to make way for the new. This, my New Year resolution, is to do my best to take on new experiences and not be too afraid to make a blotch of things. After all, we all have to learn from our challenges so that we can grow and develop, and hopefully reinvent and renew ourselves.