Closing Chapters
- devabritow
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
"Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren't really an ending; some things are never-ending." (C. JoyBell C.)
It's that time of year. So many of us are winding down 2025, wrapping up at work and readying ourselves for holiday plans, if we are fortunate enough to have them. It is Friday, the 19th of December, and today's my last day in the 'office' for the year (I'm working from home for half of the day). After what will undoubtedly be a busy weekend, my Mom, sister Shereen and niece, Amber, will fly out to the Gold Coast on Monday to spend two weeks with the family who live there. We were fortunate to see my brother, Raoul, and sister, Karen, over the Easter holidays this year, and because Karen works for a New Zealand-based company, we also got to see her last month. We haven't, however, seen my darling nieces, Tylah and Toni, for over two years, so saying I cannot wait would be an understatement. They're my goddaughters, too, so I am champing at the bit just a wee bit. For two glorious weeks, I'll have all three of my nieces around me at once, and I am so grateful (in advance) for that. Not everyone could make the trip over, and they'll be sorely missed, but I appreciate that I'll be surrounded by most of my family over the holidays. Having said all of this, I'll be taking a two-week break from writing to fully immerse myself in the love and joy of my family, and this is my last post for 2025.
My closing blog post last year was titled I Am... and it started with the following words:
"Healing. Not 'healed', not 'going to heal' but healing. We're a work in progress, and as I prepare for the final post of my 12-week challenge (and for 2024), it's with the knowledge that I have a lot more work to do."
Nothing's changed, yet so much has. I didn't do a 12-week (or any other) challenge in 2025 because I don't think I had the physical, mental or emotional capacity to do so. The start of the year was challenging, and the first half was even more so. Both personally and as a family, we had to clear some hurdles that range from health issues to unthinkable trauma and a tragic death. Yet, we prevailed, and we're indeed healing. And while I acknowledge I still have a lot of work to do, I also know I have made progress - one fantastic book, poem or podcast at a time.
This week's inspiration comes from a podcast I listened to last week. It's Episode 349 of the Mel Robbins podcast titled How to Reinvent Your Life Starting Today (with Hoda Kotb), and, like so many of them, it's an incredible instalment.
I knew about Hoda Kotb in a very general sense. Having worked in the media industry for my entire career, I consume a lot of industry news, and Hoda Kotb is a prolific figure in the business. Thanks to social media, I have come to know a fair amount about her work. Born in the United States to Egyptian parents, she has worked in broadcast journalism, including stints on Dateline and (more famously) the Today show. She's also a published author, breast cancer survivor, mother and the founder of the tech-related wellness venture, Joy 101. Her conversation with Mel Robbins was incredibly inspiring in its entirety, but I wanted to focus on just one thing.
"It's a lie, you know, that you only get one story." (V.E. Schwab, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil)
As the podcast title suggests, the process of reinvention underpins Mel Robbins' discussion with Hoda Kotb. The pair discuss Kotb's evolution from a nearly lifelong career in broadcast journalism to becoming a first-time mother at 52, then starting her own company. By all accounts, hers is an inspiring success story, and it is undoubtedly one of reinvention.
"I've been blocking the possibility of starting over... And so I'm telling you, and watch what happens in your life when you open the door to the possibility that you could have this thing."
This thing. It's different for everyone, of course, and when Mel Robbins mentioned it in her conversation with Kotb, it made me consider what my thing is. What is this thing that I want? Want... desire. I have written about my pursuit of peace above all else. This pursuit is not unique to me, of course. I could throw a stone into the air in a crowd of people, and it would likely land on someone who wants the very same thing.
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride"
Je Souhaite ('I wish') is one of my favourite episodes from my favourite television series, The X-Files (Season 7, Episode 21). Thematically, it is about the dangers of unchecked desire, freedom in the act of letting go and the notion that serenity is (perhaps) born of acceptance. The episode is a darkly comedic, philosophical instalment of the series that ultimately suggests that wisdom lies not in fulfilling one's desires but in understanding their limitations. When the djinn grants Mulder his first wish (for peace on Earth), the seemingly hapless special agent is left the sole inhabitant of the Blue Planet. Even his beloved Scully is gone. It all works out in the end, of course, because in true genie fashion, Jenn the Djinn granted him three wishes, and he makes better use of his last two.
However, we can't wish ourselves to a better life. The simple act of wishing doesn't make things happen. It is action and effort that create results.
"Life without problems is like the ocean without water. Which is really impossible." (Bilal Khan, Success Demystified: Beat Mediocrity, Achieve High)
What I took from that scene in Je Souhaite and the many, many books I have read throughout this self-help journey is that this thing I'm after, this pursuit of peace, is a worthy goal, but I have to find it amid life's ups and downs. I need to find harmony in both the yin and the yang. It's about balance and equanimity, practising The Power of Now, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself and having the Everyday Courage to pursue One's Ideal Self. It is, like Mel Robbins' conversation with Hoda Kotb, about reinventing oneself.
Reinvention
Reinvention is the courage to release who you used to be to embrace who you are today and who you can be tomorrow. This change doesn't have to be dramatic or loud; it can unfold through small, intentional decisions—altering a habit (Atomic ones, especially), rethinking a belief, heeding an innate sense you once overlooked. Reinvention doesn’t eliminate the past; it incorporates it, utilising experience as a resource rather than a constraint. Fundamentally, reinvention is an expression of self-trust: trusting that growth is permitted, that identity is flexible, and that you can start anew at any given time in your life.
This self-help journey is my attempt at reinvention. At healing the wounded parts of myself that, for too long, have altered who I am, precluded me from reaching my full potential and most sadly, robbed me of a life of peace and joy. These books, poems and podcasts have become the building blocks for my reinvention - the metaphorical fence around the crop that is my nervous system, emotional stability and sense of safety. Now, I find myself working diligently to embrace who I am today and look forward to who I can be tomorrow.
"Reinvention requires both a kind of death and a desire to keep living. And so at its core, reinvention is inextricably linked to hope: the hope that we can find another way, take another shape." (Vivek Shraya, People Change)
Best Wishes
If you have read any of my posts over the last year, please accept my sincere thanks for the support. I hope that my words and personal experience have helped you in some way, and I look forward to more of the same next year. My next post will be on Sunday, 11 January 2026, so till then, best wishes to you and yours.
#anxiety #depression #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #youarenotalone #thereisnostigma #mindfulness #selfcare #wellness
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