Out with the old & in with the new? Not quite!!

Is it incredibly cliche and predicatable for me to do a review of last year/plans for this year? Yes!

Is that EXACTLY what I am doing here? Absolutely!!

2025 was an interesting year for a few reasons but mostly I'd have to say it was a year of realisation...which I'll come back to in a bit.

There was the usual stuff like feel good February, angel card readings, my weekly facebook lives and the general day to day stuff of the butterfly room.

There was also highlight things like doing an event around "how I became a butterfly" with a fab charity organisation called More than fibro, releasing "self care isn't selfish" (which I shared about in my last blog "launching and leaving" which of course you've already read!! 😀) and I also got the opportunity to take on the facilitating of therapeutic art sessions for FMA UK.

There were loads of other high points both professionally and personally (and moments that straddled both like being at murrayfield and participating in what was basically a mass affirmations practice with robbie williams and over 50,000 others as we sang " i love my life" ) but it feels apt to pick out those things as mentionable highlights because they flipped a switch in my mind and fuelled a realisation that saw me not pivoting my work but remembering my why and feeling the pull back to what the reason was for the butterfly room.

When I initially got into offering the things I do it was to be of help and service to people who were on similar health journeys to the one I had been on. This was the intention and the purpose behind the butterfly room being set up BUT as someone who was acutely aware of the amount of sharlatans and “snake oil merchants” around taking advantage of the desperation of the chronic illness community I think I developed a bit of a subconscious “ick” and a very conscious discomfort of “making money” from the community, even though I knew in my heart it wasn’t like that and I was coming from a place of authenticity and integrity something held me back so rather than embrace the “niche” I was in denial and when asked who my ideal client was I would always say “anyone working on their wellbeing”

And I plodded on like that happily for quite a while, even after I self published “how I became a butterfly” a book specifically about my fibro journey and the stuff that helped me so obviously aimed at those with chronic illnesses.

Even though friends with fibro and other chronic Illnesses would regularly reassure me, encourage me to share stuff in groups and even come to me for sessions I was still hesitant to go full in with the broadcasting my services to the very people I had gone to the time and effort of studying them for! I’d occasionally tie the two together for things like fundraisers or awareness day events, like the local library reading from how I became a butterfly /q&a I did back in may 2024 but mostly my passion and original why was masked and hidden behind my “wellbeing for all” front.

I did start to shift my thinking a few months into 2025 when More than fibro mentioned wanting to stock “how I became a butterfly” in their hub at parkhead forge and online and then we arranged an event like the Paisley library one in the forge in July 2025. I got some beautiful feedback from someone who’d attended that and, despite all the previous support and lovely feedback I’d had that didn’t dissolve the “ick” this time something began to crack in the front!

The cracks were further widened the same month when I was approached by FMA UK to step in and facilitate their “healing through art” sessions after the lovely volunteer hosting them had to drop out for health reasons. I eagerly stepped in to the breach and absolutely loved doing it…creativity has been such a integral part of my fibro management toolbox and to have an opportunity to share and explore that with others was wonderful and I’m excited that it’s continuing into 2026

I think I finally released the last of the “ick” and resistance to fully embracing my why came in august on a live call for David R. Hamilton PhD’s personal development club. We were doing a visualisation practice when from nowhere I had a strong idea of a journal to support a self care practice I even saw the cover design and style of the book in my minds eye…it was THAT vivid!

It was also a really fluid and swift process going from idea to published product in just six weeks with no corner cutting in terms of research, surveys to ensure I covered what people wanted and sample pages assessed by potential users all the stuff I did with “how I became a butterfly” minus the years wasted by impostor syndrome and ick about my “target market”

I think that’s because by that point I was reconnecting fully with why I started this whole journey with the butterfly room, the books and stuff….to help people stuck in the hole I was in all those years ago when I lost SO much to the fibro monster and saw no way out and certainly not a positive, fulfilled future of service and special, happy moments.

And that’s where I find myself as we are in the early stages of 2026 FINALLY fully ready to be of service to my chronic illness community and confident about doing it. I know my why and anyone who doubts that or questions it is welcome to do so…but I know my intentions and I know I’m coming from a place of authenticity and integrity so spoonie friends I’m here for you and ready to support you on your wellbeing journey and on the path to savouring not storing up your spoons

I should say that my support isn’t exclusively available to the chronic illness community, I will still be open to work with “anyone who wants to work on their wellbeing” but my content and focus will likely be more “spoonie” focused going forward.

If you’ve read all the way to here then well done and please feel free to tell me your new year thoughts, plans, realisations in the comments