Learning Along the Way

Hello! ✨

April turned out to be quite an experiential month for me.

After returning from my March trip, I was already busy planning for another trip in May. But before that, something else entered my life — my second foster cat.

She arrived on 3 April, a beautiful black kitty with the cutest face that honestly made me want to hug her immediately. But of course, things take time. She needed space to adapt, settle down, and slowly relearn how to associate with humans again.

Hearing about her background really broke my heart, and I couldn’t help but feel that life had been unfair to her. I truly hope she’ll continue to adapt well in my care and eventually feel safe enough to simply be a loving and carefree kitty again.

Her official name is Brenda, but I’ve been calling her Bella instead — it somehow feels more natural to me, and I think it suits her better too 😅

Bella is still a young adult, and she has a lot of curiosity and energy. Jumping onto counters, zooming around the house, exploring every corner possible… honestly, I became quite flustered at the start. I was mentally and physically drained to say the least.

At the same time, it also made me want to understand her more. I found myself constantly Googling things, reading up about cat behaviour, and asking friends with cats for advice. I’ve been slowly adjusting my home to make it more suitable for Bella too — adding enrichment, observing her habits, and trying to understand what makes her feel secure.

Of course… she has also repaid me with quite a number of bites and scratches 😅

Those sudden skin tears and moments of pain after a long day at work really pushed me emotionally at times. There were definitely moments of frustration and tears from feeling overwhelmed. But even then, I decided I didn’t want to give up on her. And I didn’t want to give up on myself either.

So for now, I’m still learning — learning how to communicate with her, understanding her boundaries, and slowly building trust and chemistry together. It’s very much still a work in progress, but one that I hope will become a meaningful journey for both of us 🐈‍⬛

A Reminder to Take Care of Ourselves

On the personal side, it was also time for my health screening. I was told that once you approach your 40s, regular health checks become increasingly important, and this round happened to be my biannual check-up.

In a way, health screenings feel a little like a report card to myself — a reminder to reflect on how I’ve been treating my body and whether I’ve been taking proper care of myself.

As I’m now in my late 30s, there are naturally a few things I’ve become more conscious about, so I decided to include a couple of additional tests as well, just for peace of mind.

Thankfully, the results came back generally good. There were a few minor findings, but I was told they weren’t clinically significant and simply needed monitoring during future check-ups.

So yes — if you’re reading this and have been delaying your own health screening, this is your little reminder to go for it too ❤️

Please take care of yourself and be kind to your body.

Back to Practice

On the art side, I’m still continuing with my ink sketch practices — learning how to create more volume, improve shading, and sharpen my overall confidence with ink work.

It’s still a learning process, but I’ve been enjoying the slower and more hands-on nature of it.

I’ve also been posting some of these sketches weekly on Instagram, so feel free to check them out ✨

Thank you for being here.

Take care and stay safe!✨