the title is a play on words of Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation (which remains on my to-read list, no spoilers please).
of running
between 2007 and November 2024, i have never once went running out of my own volition. granted, i had only started maintaining a regular workout routine from 2022 onwards, still, running was not the first, nor the second, nor the third on my list of preferred activities for two whole years. my main motivation to start running could be chalked down to two factors: 1) credits for Classpass classes in Singapore were a lot higher than in Malaysia so i needed to find an alternative cheap/ free activity to do on days that i did not attend classes, and 2) running in public in the evenings/ nights was a very viable option in safe sunny Singapore.
so i bought a pair of cheap running shoes and explored my nearby park connector.
my first run was atrocious. everything hurt and i walked more than i ran. but i was forgiving to myself: i was trying something new and it didn’t matter if it ultimately did not stick.
i came back a few days later, coerced by the need to remain active while simultaneously curious as to how much i could push myself to improve over time. i don’t think i could say i liked it at first – i showed up out of self-obligation and discipline more than anything. but that’s the thing about forming habits; Saw once told me that if you can do anything for 10 weeks straight, it will naturally develop into a habit.
i did hit the 10-week mark at some point, and it did develop into a habit, although it remains a relatively new habit at this juncture. my perception of running changed the more i ran – i started noticing the subtle effects breathing in fresh air had on my mental wellbeing after being cooped up in the office or my room for nine hours a day, the improvement in my stamina and form by how much longer i could run without resting and having nothing hurt, and finally the desire to run just a little bit faster than i did previously.
physicality aside, running by myself without the constant presence of an instructor also cultivated a serene headspace prime for retrospection for the hour, in tandem with my fondness of taking time out of the day just to hang out with myself.
physicality and mentality aside, i also get to see a lot of dogs on my running route.
a couple of months down the road, i can say that i like running now. earlier this month, i was more excited to buy a pair of Hoka running shoes off Carousell than to go out on a date, because that meant my feet didn’t have to hurt anymore in the size 4 Nikes i previously had. whenever it rained on a scheduled running day, i would feel upset and often braved the downpour with a cap donned anyway.
of reading
as a child, i was an avid reader. you could not catch me going anywhere without a faithful paperback (sometimes even a hardcover) in tow. then everything changed when i went to law school.
English words were my best friends growing up. they were my primary medium/ vessel of expression. but when you start having to read thousands of words every day which, when strung together in mundane sentences in the form of case precedents, textbooks and legal essays, were remarkably tedious and banal, it is inevitable to refrain from spending your leisure time doing the exact same thing, albeit perhaps over less insipid materials.
consequently, i stopped reading leisurely for the subsequent 10 years.
after i quit practice last year and took up a job which allowed me to have substantially more time to myself, i told myself that this was the opportune time to pick up old hobbies again, especially reading.
the revival of this hobby did not properly take off until the beginning of this year, which, in typical new year fashion, offered the optimum justification to commence new habits. it did not exactly start out planned either – in the first week of January, Rachel invited me to a joint book signing/ screening event of Sister Snake/ Green Snake at Golden Mile Tower. not wanting to turn up at the event clueless, i downloaded an ebook version of Sister Snake and finished it within a week, right in time for the event.
Sister Snake is authored by Singaporean writer Amanda Lee Koe currently based in New York, and was my first read of the year. largely due to ALK’s witty, satirical prose, it was a very enjoyable read and i found myself rediscovering the joys of reading during the process – the absolute immersion in the events of the story, the rigorous analyses of characters to determine whether i rooted for them and if so, how much, the desire to ascertain how the narrative will ultimately unfurl, and most importantly for me, the strong urge and motivation to put pen to paper myself (metaphorically) in an attempt to unleash my own literary ideas.
Sister Snake is shelved as one of my favourites, and i gave it a 5 star out of 5.
upon finishing the book, i logged onto my dusty Goodreads account to leave a review, stared at my “Currently Reading” status (which listed books last added from 10 years ago…) for a solid minute, and told myself with utmost conviction that this is the year i will start reading again. and then i set the ambitious goal of reading 50 books this year for my 2025 Reading Challenge.
truth be told, i did that without really believing that i would stick to it, but at the same time i thought: why not? if i wanted to, i would. and it turned out that i did want to, because i am now on my 15th book in March.
my persistence to read is also largely contributed by the ease of accessing and downloading ebooks in this day and age. i think we all know there is only one right answer in the physical books vs ebooks debate (the answer is the former, it will always, always be the former) but due to certain financial and spatial constraints, i gradually learned to find the latter rather palatable.
this all ultimately tied in neatly with one of my 2025 “ins” of developing a habit to read rather than scroll on my daily commute, which not only precipitated my renewed reading habit but also greatly improved my mental health by curtailing the rate at which i was consuming doomerism content on social media.
i joked on twitter that spending all my time outside of work running and reading since the year started made my routine sound so incredibly boring, but truthfully what it has given me is peace, the type that compels me do everything within my power to preserve that and prevent anyone from remotely disrupting it. and while i undoubtedly love spending time with the people i care about, i have also come to revel in my own company and take respite in my own world, something both running and reading have allowed me to unabashedly do.
michelle teoh 