Radiococo Broadcast #26
take care of it
It's only 3pm here in Gothenburg, but sporadic backyard fireworks have started to go off. Sitting with my dirty chai as it grows colder by the minute, thinking about the different situations where we count minutes, especially on the last day at the literal last minute of the year.
Scrolling through my photos and looking back at the year, I realise once again how fallible the human memory is. This year was the first time since 2014 where I got to spend almost a full year back home in Singapore. Loving from a distance was something I learnt while being away for so long, but man, how wonderful it is to be able to love near and close. This year, I got to tend to my relationships, truly realising how generous the people I love are, fueling and sustaining our relationship while I do zoomies across oceans.
One of my besties, Jhaw, had this lovely idea of reflecting on the year by drawing a Christmas ornament to represent each month of the year. It makes me try and dig deep and summarise defining moments, so here's my list of ornaments for the 2023 tree:
Creating new things with old friends, sowing seeds planted many years ago. Feeling out of depth but so held by the people around me.
Overlapping social circles, seeing many points of view, awed by human’s multidimensionality (if that is a word)
Heart, mind, body expanding work with Superhero Me, absolutely loved seeing how friendships take shape, honoured to be part of the process, and took my role of hype gal very seriously.
ANXIETY APRIL. PERIOD.
Watching kiddos flourish, seeing and being seen.
First proper holiday in a long time, unwavering support through the season of waiting and interviews. Witnessing explosive love and growth, public speaking!
Gathering courage from little moments like reuniting with my students from Tokyo.
Uprooting, moving, love and anxiety in equal measure.
Planting, learning, welcoming. Adjusting to a new climate and season took longer than I expected.
Lots of making and still more adjusting, falling sick and not being attuned to my body.
Incredibly foggy psychological landscape and many intense dreams, hope and despair in equal measure.
In the last week of the year, everything was finally quiet, making time to realign and pay attention again. I fell sick three times since moving to Sweden and it was alarming. It was hard to admit that adjustments take a long time! There’s a phrase my tutor likes to use during tutoring/ crit, when he has a question about our design choices or processes, he asks “how will you take care of it?”
It’s a phrase that rests at the back of my mind now, it calls gently for attention to detail, to deliberate, consider and to tend to lovingly. That’s the energy I’m bringing into the new year.
Thank You, as always, for sticking around.
No play-list this month, but recommended reading here 💕