Call it manifestation, call it good vibes, call it unashamed naivety, we, the co-founders of Capsule are determined that this year will, in fact, be our year (too soon for an ‘up the Wahs?). Welcome to Twenty Twenty Thrive!
Capsule x Samsung
Look, we are very aware that some of the last few years have been… sub-optimal at best. And yes, sure, there are things going on in the world right now that make you want to reach for the stress wine you keep hidden in the pantry behind the wholemeal flour.
But here at Capsule, we know there are many things that we cannot control and that focusing on those only makes us feel crazier. So, for this year, we’ve decided that we are instead going to focus on the things we CAN to help us achieve our ultimate goal – simple, unfiltered happiness and contentment (IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK).
So we introduce you to our new series, TWENTY TWENTY THRIVE. We’ve joined up with our pals at Samsung to bring you stories of pure joy and happiness, interspersed with actually helpful advice and tips on how to make this the best year yet (like, actually – no stupid New Year Resolutions or grand pronouncements around here, thank you very much). We’ll be focussing on themes like connection, health and self-care with real stories and real experts offering their sage advice and knowledge and, in true Capsule form, we’ll be (over)sharing our own experiences along the way.
A little snapshot of our planning meeting with some of our FANCY new Samsung kit – we’ll be reviewing and chatting about the devices this year!
For this first edition us three – Kelly, Alice and Emma – have each picked a word we’re each using as our north star this year. Rather than make up a resolution that’ll disappear on day six, we’ve instead adopted a bit of a ‘New Year, Old Me – But BETTER’ mentality for 2025.
So, come with us on this journey to actually, pragmatically and joyously make this our best year ever… because my GOD, WE ALL DESERVE IT.
KELLY: 2025 IS THE YEAR OF FREEDOM
As I write this at the end of a pretty good 2024 for me personally, I cannot WAIT to get to 2025. Twenty Twenty Five is the year that my life will change completely – I’m getting married.
Of course I can’t wait to marry the love of my life, but getting married is bigger than that for me. Getting married changes everything, from my family to my name to my title to my soul, and it’s a change I’m absolutely chomping at the bit for.
In the almost five years of Capsule I’ve gone from a single gal living alone to where I am now and, like so many single gals in their 30s I honestly thought that this would never happen for me. I spent so many years sad (read: desperate) about it, and then eventually reached that ‘genuinely happy to be single’ stage that everyone harps on about is the stage you’ll meet your lobster (it’s actually quite annoying that they’re right about that).
Some people might not equate getting married with freedom and absolutely fair enough. But finding my own lobster and marrying him is a form of freedom for me – now, I get to live the life I’ve dreamed about for so long – secure, happy, in love and excited to share a life with a great human who wants all the same things I do. Is it anti-feminist? I honestly don’t care.
But along with becoming someone’s wife is the idea that, all going well, this will be my last year of selfishness. When we (hopefully) have a child, my life will change hugely and the wildly care-free and yes, selfish life I love now will be a distant memory and as much as I’m ok with that, I really want this last child-free year to be an absolute banger.
I want to drink martinis on a Monday without worrying about getting up in the night five times. I want to drop everything and take the last-minute work trip because I can. I want one last Europe hurrah (I’ve picked up a new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 for the BEST pics possible!). I want to enjoy time with my husband without focussing on our kid and having, for at least the first wee while, our lives dictated by a cute but very demanding baby.
Trying for a baby is a massive thing for me because when the time comes, you best believe I’m going to be doing that shit well. I don’t think I’m the most naturally maternal woman on the planet and that comes with its own set of anxieties and worries (luckily my partner is an absolute pro at it already). But I’ll be devoting every fibre I have to being the best mum I can be. Until then, it’s my time to shine and, dare I say it, thrive.
EMMA: 2025 IS THE YEAR OF ADVENTURE
Last year when I was on maternity leave, I read a book called Real Self-Care by Pooja Lakshmin, which was about finding real and sustainable ways to look after yourself. One exercise in particular was life-changing. In the book, she had a ‘building your values’ list where you noted down which three values felt like they were the most reflective of yourself. I wrote down: humour, curiosity and authenticity.
Then, you had to write down a list of your peak experiences for the past five years and see what values they represented. And this is where the game changed for me – over and over again, it turned out my values in practice were actually: adventure, community and spirituality.
‘Adventure’ is the one that truly blew my mind, because I associate it with people who sky dive and talk smugly about being adrenaline junkies… whereas I still can’t ride a bike. But as I went through the list, I realised that pushing myself out of my comfort zone is really good for me, whether it’s taking on big work projects, traveling solo to unexpected places or having a baby (truly, an adventure).
Now, if I’m coming up to a challenge that scares me a bit, framing it as an adventure is helpful for making me view it through the lens of excitement, rather than anxiety.
In 2025, my family and I are doing something that is both scary and extremely cool, as my husband’s work is taking us on sabbatical overseas for a few months. So, we are taking our 18-month-old on the road, including doing the 17-hour long haul flight to Dubai – twice.
We already did this long-haul trip this year – I wrote about planning for it here – and I’m going to be honest with you, before we went I was shit scared. I love being a mum but can find parenting overwhelming at the best of times, and being trapped on a metal tube in the sky with an emotional time-bomb toddler for 17 hours is… mentally quite challenging.
But we did it – and even though our returning journey was logistically a nightmare, where it took a full 48 hours to get home and just four – FOUR – of those hours were in an actual bed, we all survived AND stayed in a good mood!
This time around, we’re travelling for longer, away from our support systems, our home, our routines, and our precious beloved daycare team, and the idea of parenting full-time while also trying to do a full-time job is making me laugh out loud as I type this (maniacally).
But I also know that it’s an adventure, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will look back on in the years and decades to come and remember when we once travelled around like a less-skilled family circus and leaned into the adventure side of being on the road.
A piece of advice I once read said that when presented with two options, pick the one that makes your world bigger, not smaller. And that’s my kind of adventure (no parachute required).
In the practical sense, maneuvering my way around a new city or two with a pram is also a bit intimidating but my travel tip is put your headphones in and listen to the Google Maps instructions, rather than read them on your phone – I do this whenever I’m overseas and it stops me from looking like a tourist. (Seamless segue – can we recommend these Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro because, I tell you, I’m a recent convert and they absolutely slap). Also, I have always been a huge podcast fan but when I was dealing with the intense loneliness of maternity leave, I found my podcast routine one of the best ways to still feel like I was part of a community, so I will be packing my headphones with me and staying connected both to my normal life, and the world around me, in a hands-free, toddler-friendly manner!
ALICE: 2025 IS THE YEAR OF HEALTH
Three years ago, when I was pregnant, I heard more than my fair share of ‘oh just you wait until…’ stories about what might be awaiting me as a mother to a newborn for the first time (I’ll just say that not a lot of it was great news?). But there was one word of warning that really stuck with me: a woman who said, “Oh having a baby is nothing, just you wait until you’re in your early 40s”.
Well, here I am, due to turn 43 next month and while fortunately, things haven’t quite gone to hell in a handbasket like that woman warned me (yet? Have I jinxed this now? Is perimenopause going to arrive before I finish writing this?!), I have noticed some odd health stuff happening that I can only assume is what she was talking about.
I’ve always had an autoimmune disease, so I’m well used to my body doing something slightly weird, but, at the end of last year within the space of two weeks, I’d been newly diagnosed with a suspected heart murmur, skin cancer and osteopenia (no, I had never heard of it before either).
Thankfully, after some extensive tests it turned out the heart murmur was a false alarm – and the skin cancer was the non-scary kind that got taken out within a week.
Osteopenia is essentially bone density loss – it’s not great, but it’s not quite as terrible as Osteoporosis. I pestered a doctor to get a test because my mum developed Osteoporosis pretty young and I wanted to hopefully get ahead of it. It’s not the best news, because we lose the ability to build bone as we age. By the time you’re in your 40s it’s about preserving your bone density – which is now even more crucial for me. It’s super important for all of us though, because we lose a lot during menopause – so much so that on the other side of menopause, 50% of women will have osteopenia.
I am someone who has avoided the gym for decades like it’s a toxic ex-boyfriend. Weights? I loathe them. Breaking a sweat? No thank you. A yoga class? My mind wanders and my lack of flexibility embarrasses me.
But I’m coming to realise that it’s time to make some shifts, because concentrating on my physical health this year will not only help me to thrive in 2025, but to, well, survive for – hopefully – many more decades ahead.
Having children and a business has often meant I’ve put myself on the backburner, which I know so many women can relate to. I’m time poor, but it’s time to make time and make myself a priority!
This isn’t one of those ‘new year, new me’ ideas – I’m not doing anything drastic. I’m not going to join some F45 group, make my goal to run a marathon, or to lose X amount of weight. This year, I’m pledging to myself that I’ll be looking after my health (for my bones that means getting moving and lifting weights), making me a priority and getting fighting fit.
So, I’ve already picked up the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 to keep on top of my fitness goals, keep an eye on my heart (heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in NZ!) and, track my sleep (one of the fundamentals to staying healthy – and hopefully now that my toddler is growing up, something I will continue to enjoy more of?).
I’m sure I’ll check in with you over the year about what I’m learning (I am definitely going to be speaking to some experts about bone density and our hearts!), what’s difficult, and what we can all do to thrive in 2025 and survive into old age.