2026 – the Year of the Fire Horse!

For me, the start of this year has been a season of rapid change.

I am five weeks into a brand new job, a brand new career. It has taken a lot of courage to let go of the things that no longer serve me.

Over the first five weeks of my new job, I’ve experienced a shift in identity. After ten years of service, I am no longer a teacher . This is something that I’ve had conversations with people about – teaching isn’t just what you do, the problem is, it becomes who you are. It’s so wrapped up in how you see yourself and in your values, in your personality and in the way that you navigate the world. Separating from that has been painful. I’ve shed a lot of tears, out of grief, out of trying to process the change and to figure out who and what I am away from my teaching career. But, I finally feel as if I’ve started to shed that idea of me, and to broaden my concept of self. I am no longer a teacher, I am a Behaviour Support Practitioner – my purpose is to help families, to help individuals to live the best life possible. My purpose is to protect and to build a person’s quality of life.

There has been a lot of learning involved in my new role, and that in itself is overwhelming. I am learning new ways of working, of thinking, of being as well as trying to soak up all the theory. I’ve sat through professional learning on; the Polyvagal theory and Oppositional Defiance, trauma informed practice, the functions of behaviour, reactive and proactive strategies for managing behaviour, risk management, proprioception, interoception, ADHD, Autism, Intellectual Disability, mental health disorders, the NDIS and how it works and so on. My learning continues, and each week has a different theme. Last week it was data collection, this week it’s writing comprehensive behaviour support plans, formulations and protocols. My brain has been more overloaded with new information than ever before.

This transformation, for me, feels more aligned. I am now travelling in the direction that I wish to go in. How can I tell? It feels smoother, it feels less like fighting or wading through the every day chaos of teaching and more like walking directly towards my purpose. That doesn’t mean the change has been easy. It’s been hard, it’s been emotional, and I’ve cried what felt like, buckets full of tears over emotions that I don’t fully understand. I haven’t fallen into a new routine yet that allows me to feel as if I’m successfully managing my life – I don’t know how to fit in study, I don’t know where to find time to do the things that I need to do in order to take care of my own health and well being. I am working longer hours, but the days are less hurried and more relaxed, there are opportunities to breathe, to use the bathroom when I need to, to grab a cup of coffee, to take a personal phone call.

So far, for me, the Year of the Fire Horse has lived up to its name – it’s been a process of transformation, of shedding what no longer serves me, of redefining who I am, or a bold new beginning. I feel as if the shedding process is coming to an end and I am ready and excited for reinvention.