2025 ins, outs, & transitions

Take what resonates, leave what doesn't — and yes, I'm aware that it's February.

Hey there. It must be a little disorienting to come across a post like this when we’re already, as some kids would say, on page 33 of 365.

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2025 OUTS:

• Starting the new year with a bang. In my younger years, the hypnotizing potential of a fresh beginning had enticed me into furiously planning throughout December, to hit the ground running amidst a backdrop of loud fireworks on January 1st. However, now that I’m older, December is the busiest time of my year — professionally and personally. I’d prefer not to add vision boards on top of my clients’ holiday campaigns and my Christmas gift shopping. All this is to say that “go big or go home” is decidedly not the energy I’m bringing into 2025.

• Sale-triggered online purchases. In contradiction to the tenets of girl math, 30% off + a free shipping voucher for an eyeshadow palette does not “save” money. Repeat until convinced.

• Perfume blind buys were easily one of my mistakes last year, as evidenced by the nine bottles of mid-tier fragrances I’m still struggling to deplete.

• The fear of getting older. Plot twist: Turning 28 shifted something in my brain chemistry, so I’m now low-key looking forward to my 30s. Shocker, I know! While I do have my grievances (mainly concerning my back and joints), this is the most secure, grounded, and capable I’ve ever felt. The volatility and insecurity that come in parcel with youth aren’t things I wish to relive.

• Doom-scrolling in bed to fall asleep. It is absolutely counterproductive, what with the blue light from phone screens and all.

• “I’m just a girl” because the Internet’s insistence on infantilizing grown women is so uninspired and boring to me.

• 6+ hours of daily screen time. Speaking only for myself, there’s something inexplicably sad about spending 1/4 of the day on my phone. Also, I don’t want to trade in my eyeglasses for a higher grade anytime soon.

• Caffeine dependency. I simply don’t like the idea of coffee having so much authority over my energy levels. But I will continue to enjoy my occasional iced cinnamon latte for funsies, thank you very much.

• Reality TV shows about dating. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not ashamed to admit that I binged and enjoyed shows like Single’s Inferno, Too Hot to Handle, and yes, even Netflix’s Sexy Beasts. However, I do want to minimize the media I “mindlessly” consume, so that meager allocation has been given to RuPaul’s Drag Race.

• Automated monthly/annual subscriptions. I’m forever disabling autopayment features. I forgot to cancel my Grab Unlimited subscription before its renewal date, and no exaggeration, this misstep will haunt me for the rest of the year.

• Doing workouts on an empty stomach. After reading up on how fasted workouts can increase cortisol, and even affect estrogen levels among women, I’ve become fearful.

• Filling every silence with background music or noise. Because sometimes, the quiet and the stillness are almost therapeutic.

• Complicated skincare routines. I still enjoy my little serums and ampoules, but I can only handle four steps in my routine these days: cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer/sunscreen.

• 2x listening speed in audiobooks. Breezing through audiobooks used to be a competitive sport for me. But since I’m committed to mindfully consuming media this year, I want to focus on quality instead of quantity or quickness.

• Rotting in my comfort zone. My personal Achilles heel.

2025 INS:

• Embracing the slowness of January because, while many people agonize over January's lethargy, my mental health is genuinely grateful for the breather. Within a society that’s been deeply conditioned to produce, pivot, and optimize every second of every day, choosing rest feels almost radical.

• Gatekeeping my energy. If energy can be spent, it can also be invested (notwithstanding the first law of thermodynamics). No bad energy investments in 2025, please.

• Writing a bucket list. At the start of every new year, I resolve to “try or do 5 new things” so keeping a list of potential things-to-do seems practical. Some items on my 2025 bucket list are as follows:

  • Sign up for a group class activity (preferably dance or a workout)

  • Take my boyfriend to watch his first-ever drag performance show

  • Organize a weekend reading retreat with friends

• Keeping an analog journal is a single-pronged remedy to a two-fold problem; my handwriting has gotten atrocious due to lack of practice (oops), and my brain needs an outlet.

• Documenting more aggressively. I fear that my memory is only growing worse over time, so these apps are my crutches:

  • DailyBean - a visual daily diary with mood and habit tracking

  • Goodreads for books

  • Letterboxd for films

• Long-form content. Whether it’s writing, creating, or consuming — it doesn’t matter. I want more long-form content! No more 30-second reels and 280-character bytes of text. I need my attention span back.

• Hobbies centered around creation — as opposed to hobbies fuelled by consumption. Painting! Pottery! Perfume making! I’d rather be a frustrated creator than identify as a joyful consumer.

• Wasting time beautifully, saccharinely, without apology. Which is its own kind of understated luxury.

• Intentional dates with the boyfriend. Keyword: Intentional. Kiko and I are fortunate to live within a short driving distance from each other (or at least, my idea of a short drive, as a passenger princess). But much of our quality time feels borrowed or stolen: car rides home from the office, weekend errands at the supermarket, long drives to Pampanga. Getting dressed and going out with the sole intention of spending time together over a delicious meal is a different kind of nice, you know?

• More art, more museums, more musicals. Because they’re great!

• Regular visits to the dentist. (Am I the only one who’s guilty?)

• Daily stretches. Because I fear the signs of aging are getting harder and harder to ignore.

• 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep. Because it does make a huge difference. Trust.

• “Add, not subtract” diets. Focusing on adding more good stuff (like sources of fiber and protein) instead of restricting “bad” stuff has been a total game-changer for me.

• Maintaining a pristine toilet. The state of my bathroom is the state of my mental well-being. I will not take further questions.

• Self-imposed hermit days. Partly because people are exhausting, and partly because I need enough time to revert to my factory settings.

• Committing to written grocery lists, instead of picking up a dozen additional items that pique my interest.

• Self-care rituals every Sunday. A long, indulgent shower followed by an extensive body care routine, then capped off with a nice, relaxing beverage and some quiet time.

• Perfume layering. I am still in love with my signature scent, but this is also quite fun to do.

• Decluttering sessions. Because hoarding stuff while living in a cozy studio unit sounds like a personal nightmare.

• Redefining romance as seeing the magic in everyday life. Romance is in the first whiff of petrichor and damp earth while strolling through Legazpi Active Park. It’s in the fluorescent twinkle of street lamps along the walk home from the office. Romance is seeing my besties’ faces on a group video call and feeling an invisible hug enveloping me, comforted by the knowledge that timezones and physical distances haven’t changed us. It’s the warmth in my chest whenever I run into a familiar face at Greenbelt, feeling a rush of quiet pride that I’m slowly growing roots in a city I used to find intimidating.

2025 TRANSITIONS:

• Mindful expansion is my main mantra for 2025. I intend to build on the existing great things in my life (like my career and relationships) and improve on specific areas that have fallen by the wayside (like my reading and writing).

• Daily movement is a definitive priority for me. I want to feel good, strong, and capable. I want to protect my full range of motion. And though I’m not in a position to adopt extreme lifestyle changes, I believe in the benefits of simply moving more. I hope to explore more physical activities this year, especially with friends!

• Dedicated rest means unlearning the impulse to sacrifice sleep in favor of productivity or even fun (such as pulling an all-nighter to finish a Netflix series). Getting enough sleep should become my non-negotiable moving forward.

• Embodied gratitude is the energy I’m cultivating this year. It’s less of a transition and more of a continuation. I truly, absolutely love my life and all the people in it. And I hope to start sharing this immense gratitude and love and light with all of you in my next newsletters.

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postlude.

When I jokingly told my friend that my new year would start in February (consistent with my overall brand as someone who’s usually late or delayed), I never imagined it coming to fruition in such a complicated way. Weighed down by deep grief but also marked with the highest joys. Measured by nights that seemed to stretch forever into the inky black sky and sunrises that pulled in the daylight with a dizzying deftness. Punctuated by both losses and beginnings.

It’s been a lot. And I hope that, in the coming months, I can properly hold space for this spectrum of experiences and possibly share them with you in my succeeding writing.

Thank you for indulging my first entry on Substack! I’m excited to see what we can make of this space together. 🤍