It’s been a big year. Not a cute “busy” year. A proper, life-changing, emotions-in-bulk year.

Four headline events:

1. I started my new job in June.
2. I finished my Career Development Graduate Certificate.
3. We lost Takkun.
4. We adopted our new little boy, Nacho — adorable, innocent, and absolutely up to something whenever it gets quiet.

1) The new job (June) — boundaries, systems, and actual professionals

Starting my new job in June genuinely changed things for me. Not just the role — the whole feeling of my working life.

For a start: the people. They’re professionals. I trust them. They’re competent, reasonable, and not playing weird power games. I even met them in person and, shocker, they were just as nice in real life. No jump scares. No “oh, you’re different off Teams”. Just… nice humans doing their jobs.

Also, my brain loves that the job has boundaries and systems. I know some people hear “process” and start itching, but for me it’s soothing. A system is basically a weighted blanket for the nervous system. Things go where they belong. Expectations are clearer. Decisions get made properly. My mind is quieter.

But what I love most is the possibility. I can see what my career can become from here. I feel like I’m part of something that matters. Something bigger than profit and productivity. At the end of the day, my organisation serves a purpose that a company digging things out of the ground just… can’t compete with. No offence to rocks. But you get it.

What I learnt: the right environment doesn’t just change your work — it changes your whole nervous system.

2) Finishing the Career Development Graduate Certificate — apparently, I can do hard things

I finished my Career Development Graduate Certificate, which is a polite way of saying I spent a chunk of my year doing assignments instead of living my best life. Worth it though.

What I learnt: motivation is unreliable; routines aren’t.
Progress is mostly repetition, not inspiration. It’s doing the next small task, over and over, until suddenly it’s done and you’re like, “Wait. I did it?”

Also, it reinforced something I keep forgetting: I’m allowed to build a future without having it perfectly mapped out.

3) Losing Takkun — the part that doesn’t tie up neatly

We lost Takkun, and it was brutal. Pets aren’t “just pets”. They’re daily structure, comfort, and a presence that quietly holds you together.

What I learnt: grief doesn’t care about timing or productivity.
It turns up whenever it wants. It doesn’t resolve. It reshapes. And sometimes you’re fine until you’re suddenly not. Rude, but normal.

4) Nacho — tiny joy, big chaos, face of an angel

Then Nacho arrived: adorable, innocent, and suspiciously sweet.

He hasn’t replaced Takkun. Nothing could. But he’s brought life back into the house in a new way. It’s hard to stay emotionally frozen when a small creature is purring at you like you’re the best thing that’s ever happened, then sprinting down the hallway because he’s possessed by the spirit of chaos.

What I learnt: letting something new in isn’t betrayal.
It’s life continuing. And sometimes continuing has whiskers.

5) The cat social politics (aka: attachment theory, but with hissing)

I’m cautiously optimistic that Nacho will eventually win Burrito over. Right now we’re in the “hiss first, think later” phase, but honestly, I’d settle for them simply co-existing without anyone acting like the other one committed a crime.

The funny part is Nacho is exactly what Burrito wanted from Takkun. Burrito isn’t a hugger. She’s not here for constant affection. She’s more of a “we can sit near each other and that’s intimacy” kind of girl. But she clearly wanted a friend — on her terms — and Takkun wasn’t that guy.

Enter Nacho: the lap cat. The social climber. The enthusiastic golden retriever trapped in a cat body. He wants closeness, he wants approval, he wants Burrito to be his best friend immediately.

Which is… a lot.

And the parallels are genuinely fascinating. Same household, same humans, totally different personalities and needs. It’s like watching a little social experiment where everyone is doing their best with the wiring they were born with. .

My goal for next year is simple: fewer hisses, more peaceful co-existence, and ideally a day where Burrito decides Nacho is “acceptable” and he stops treating her like the sun.

So what did I actually learn this year?

• The right workplace can stabilise you more than any “self-care routine” ever could.
• Boundaries and systems aren’t boring — they’re calming.
• Trust is built when people are consistently professional, not just “nice”.
• Purpose matters. A lot.
• Grief is love with nowhere to go, and it changes shape over time.
• New love doesn’t cancel old love. It just joins the household.
• Cats who look innocent are usually guilty.

Next year: the plan (lol)

Next year I want more steadiness and less emotional whiplash. Keep building in the role, keep protecting my boundaries, keep learning, and keep making room for the bits of life that matter.

And if Nacho keeps acting this innocent, I’m going to start checking his paws for stolen items.