Beneath the Mundane is the Path of Devotion
On committing myself to living a healthy, authentic life
The start to 2025 feels strange.
Instead of feeling clarity and hopeful like previous years, a cloud of confusion is lingering around me.
The Instagram timeline is saturated with images and videos of – on one hand, extraordinary optimism, glitz and glamour to exclaim all is well and bright in 2025 – and on the other hand, extraordinary losses, conflicts and collapses across the globe. It is like watching a cheesy rom-com and an apocalyptic horror movie side by side in fast forward at the same time.
When I put away my phone and look around the outer world, things appear calm and steady in its business-as-usual ebbs and flows.
City workers gradually return to the office after the festive season. Travellers beam in joy and take pictures of everything with their phones and cameras. Retail shops once again change their signages to entice shoppers into their never-ending sales. Street cleaners work tirelessly to pick up the ever-growing trash left behind around every corner. Rough sleepers hold onto their belongings and hopes tightly, yearning for a better life off the street.
I cannot help but feel this invisible undercurrent of precariousness and evanescence beneath the surface. Nothing is as it seems. Nothing lasts forever. Everything can change and disappear in a split second.
At the bottom of my confusion, I find grief and gratitude sitting together, marvelling at and celebrating the life I am breathing in and out now. A life I had neither envisioned nor planned for when I leaped into the unknown 30 months ago. Everything I let go of / left behind / lost has come back to me in the form of extraordinary experiences, deepening my appreciation towards this transient, messy and bumpy human life.
This is why I choose devotion as my word for 2025.
“The words devotion and vote both come from the Latin vovere, to vow, promise, or dedicate. To be devoted means that we commit fully.
What we do with wholehearted devotion becomes a holistic expression of our being, an act of beauty and selflessness beyond the everyday realm of time, roles, and duties.”
~ Oren Jay Sofer, Everyday Devotion
While many are out and about enjoying the summer fun this month, I am wintering at home. For most days of the week, I follow the same routine:
Get up just before 6 am to feed my sister’s cat; take a walk in the park nearby; stretch the body or do some qigong; make and eat breakfast; study; take a walk around the block; make and eat lunch; study; do some chores; take a nap if needed; make and eat dinner; check on and feed my sister’s cat; wind down with social media / reading / journaling; sleep by 10:30 pm.
This may sound plain and boring, but to me it is a big deal.
For the first time in my life, I promise myself wholeheartedly to take good care of my health and wellbeing in a way that is authentic and nourishing for me.
In the past, I willed and controlled my way of being to meet external standards, agendas and priorities. I poured all my energy into over-working, over-committing, over-producing, and over-caring. I ignored my biological ebbs and flow, burnt down my nervous system, and sought comfort from overconsumption. While I showed up perfectly organised to the outer world, my inner world was in disarray. The incongruity between the two left me feeling like an imposter all of the time.
This is the year for me to explore, experiment and learn how to live a good life on my own terms.
Instead of hard discipline and tight control, I make choices from a place of compassion, kindness and grace, let my actions be guided by the internal senses of vitality, ease, and flow, and focus my energy on doing small and simple things consistently.
Slow down. Rest. Meditate. Eat wholesome food. Move the body in a way that feels good. Keep my home clean and tidy. Read. Journal. Play. Make time for families and friends. Learn new things. Share ideas. Do meaningful work. Give help generously. Receive help gratefully. Enjoy each day as if it was my last.
No bells and whistles. No guarantee of external successes in wealth, status or power. Nothing to show or prove to anybody.
Devotion is all there is – a practice of deep love, faith, reverence, and presence – hidden in the ordinariness and mundane of everyday life. This is the energy I want to carry myself through 2025.
I love this, Bonnie! The Virgo energy shining through, and even more fitting now that the nodes have shifted into Pisces and Virgo! An inspiring read as I settle into my own routines again.
A peaceful read. Enjoy your words.