Living Boldly: A Year of Hope, Motivation & Possibilities
2025 is the year of the wood snake
I am enough exactly as I am. But I am not done yet.
Credit: Ben Crowe (mind set coach to tennis player - Ash Barty) & RG someone who’s helped me enormously.
2025 is the year of the wood snake which promises introspection, wisdom and growth.
It’s my year and other “Snakes” include the likes of Pablo Picasso, Mahatma Gandhi, Martha Stewart and Demi Moore so I am in good company.
The 2025 element, wood, lends the Snake’s traits greater versatility, growth and creativity. With an emphasis on relationships, personal development and conquering challenges this combination suggests a year of consistent progress. *The Times of India
As 2024 draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on a year of profound growth, challenges, and transformation. Living with the long-term side effects of head and neck cancer treatment has shaped not only my daily life but also my purpose and passion. This year has been about embracing new opportunities, overcoming obstacles, and continuing to redefine what it means to truly live.
From PEG to Plates
Years ago, a feeding tube (PEG) was my lifeline, and swallowing felt like an insurmountable challenge. Now, I’ve turned my hard-fought battle with dysphagia into a mission: helping others regain food confidence and rediscover the joys of eating. I’ve shared my journey—from blending meals to savouring international cuisine—proving that even after such adversity, food can still bring comfort, connection, and joy.
Adventures in Travel and Food
This year, I continued my international hiking adventures, demonstrating that food difficulties don’t have to hold us back. My Camino Frances journey was a pivotal moment, overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers to manage dysphagia while travelling. Additionally, I tackled the Fisherman’s Trail in Portugal, a challenging solo hike that tested my endurance and resilience. It also had me questioning a lot about how I was currently viewing and living my life, the memories of that trip will sit with me forever.
Travel has been a powerful teacher, giving me the confidence to tackle not only food challenges head-on, but social eating blocks and speech confidence. I found travel, adventure and the great unknown my greatest pleasure and joy this year.
Building a New Life Purpose
I took bold steps in 2024 to align my professional life with my passion. Leaving traditional employment, I focused entirely on growing GAG. | eating life my platform dedicated to inspiring others to live their best food life despite swallowing difficulties. I explored creative projects, such as a potential online mini-course about travelling with dysphagia (more on this in 2025) and developing partnerships with like-minded organisations that share my vision. To enhance my expertise, I specifically undertook niche writing courses, engaged a business mentor, and extensively researched international food opportunities for others facing similar challenges. I can’t wait to see how 2025 unfolds. I most definitely have my ducks in a loose row!
I write daily journal entries about personal, professional, physical and mental happenings, I meditate and chart my wins and losses, there is a potential story in everything I encounter and in 2025 I will focus more on telling the travel and experience stories.
Empowering Others
This year, I leaned into my role as a mentor and motivator. Whether through my writing, public speaking, or social media, I’ve sought to show others what’s possible—from regaining confidence to embracing adventure. My story is proof that living fully after head and neck cancer isn’t just a possibility; it’s a reality. It’s all about the story you tell yourself, the rhetoric in your head and sometimes (all the time) you have to put that down and see what really is - that’s real life.
Challenges and Triumphs
Of course, 2024 wasn’t without its hurdles. Navigating life with swallowing difficulties remains exhausting at times, especially when travelling solo. Building an online business has been a steep learning curve, and letting go of professional roles that no longer served me came with its own emotional weight. But every challenge reinforced my commitment to the life I’m creating: one of freedom, purpose, and impact.
Looking Ahead
As I step into 2025, I am more determined than ever to expand my reach. I want to connect with more people navigating life after head and neck cancer, inspire them to travel, eat, and live boldly, and continue to challenge societal perceptions about life after treatment.
My ultimate goal is to show that even when life takes a different turn, it can still be extraordinary. It can still be beautiful and it can still bring joy, I know this because I have lived it, stared it in the eye and defied anything that didn’t bring joy or a lesson.
Thank you for being part of this journey with me.
Here’s to a future filled with adventure, resilience, and, of course, good food and creating your best food life!
Yvonne x
oh and as always …
Eat Well. 🥂