#0 Introducing my Sunday Reflections series

The starting point of my future weekly column, Sunday Reflections — reflections on my everyday life while I’m on an intentional life change journey

Welcome to Sunday Reflections! A small change always brings a little spark, and apparently that applies to writing as well. I’m genuinely excited to start this new series.

In my current life situation, I simply don’t have as much time to write as often as I would like. But since I’ve finally started writing regularly and realized how much I enjoy it, I don’t want to give it up just because I supposedly don’t have enough time. After all, we always have time for the things we choose to prioritize.

For several weeks I struggled with the question of when, in the middle of everyday life, I could write somewhat regularly so that I could commit to a weekly post without it feeling overwhelming. I had also noticed that I often overthink and overanalyze my writing, which makes it sometimes hard to actually finish anything.

My days are mostly spent at home with the baby and my older children, taking care of everyday routines. Evenings and weekends are filled with the children’s or our own hobbies and other daily commitments. Some days and weeks there seems to be plenty of time for writing, while at other times there’s almost none.

But eventually I realized something. After all, this is my own playing field.
If a long weekly essay doesn’t fit into my life right now, perhaps I can simply change the rules of my own game.

And that’s why I’m starting this series of Sunday Reflections.
Light little 3–6 minute reads — that’s the goal.

Have a relaxed Sunday! Life doesn’t really need to be that rushed. Rest and sleep are the cornerstones of learning and growth.

My intention for this new series

With this series I’m setting myself a goal: to write something every week about a small event, a step forward, a realization, or simply a memorable moment from my everyday life during the past week.

I also want to give myself permission to experiment with different storytelling and writing styles if I feel like it.

At the same time, I want to practice not getting caught in the traps of my overanalyzing mind. I want to learn to write even about a single small moment in my day. My aim is to finish posts more quickly, even if that means they are shorter and simpler.

And in the end, life itself is quite simple. It is made up of small moments where insights and lessons happen. Even a small thing can be meaningful.

But then again… maybe everything doesn’t always have to be meaningful?

In reality, everyday life is often fairly repetitive and… ordinary. Nothing particularly special.

My goal is actually to write at least one post that is, in my own opinion, completely pointless, with absolutely no deep insight, lesson, or hidden meaning whatsoever 🙃

“Nothing particularly special going on here.”

What kind of progress am I talking about?

I’m in the middle of some life changes. Just like many of us are. But this is something deeper and more comprehensive than just changing my diet or developing new exercise habits (although those too). This is a conscious and intentional — and at times painful — journey of change. A journey of reshaping my thinking patterns, myself, my career, and my life more broadly.

I’m building a life that looks and feels like my own version of a dream life, while at the same time figuring out what that actually means for me, how it might be possible, and how it can fit together with the needs and wishes of the other members of my family.

So when I talk about progress, I mean progress along this broader life journey.

If not now, then when?

For years I kept circling around the same “I should…” thoughts and felt somehow stuck, especially when it came to my career.

You know those slightly too small or slightly wrong clothes sitting in your closet year after year, because you keep thinking, “I’ll wear this once I lose a bit of belly fat,” or “Maybe these pants will fit again someday”?

Or those uncomfortable clothes you keep because you imagine your style being something more elegant or refined… but in reality you always end up wearing the most comfortable, slightly worn workout leggings and a warm fleece?

At some point I realized that too many areas of my life were in that exact same state. My reality was very different from my thoughts and wishes, and I was constantly daydreaming about a different situation.

Eventually I got completely tired of it.

In the spring of 2025 I decided that it was finally time to actually start building a life that resembles the one I dream about.

I didn’t know exactly how or what. But I understood that either I needed to completely update the contents of my closet — or learn to genuinely enjoy what was already in it — so that my reality and my imagination would start to align.

And by now you’ve probably guessed that I’m not really talking about my wardrobe. Or at least not only 🤭

I wanted a more comprehensive change. I wanted my life to feel lighter, more enjoyable, more meaningful, and joyful.

I decided I couldn’t wait for everyday life to calm down first, or for the surrounding circumstances to magically improve. I had to start changing things, and especially myself NOW.

In the middle of the emotional fog of early pregnancy, I signed up for life coaching studies that I had been dreaming about for a long time. I decided that this would be my first step toward a career change

Everyday life gives you small moments and reasons to smile, if you just look for them.

Since then I’ve been pushing myself into uncomfortable situations so that I can break out of my old patterns and move closer to my dreams and goals.

I keep reminding myself that if I want different outcomes, I have to act differently than before.

“Nothing changes if nothing changes.”

I have said this sentence to myself many times during my life. But only in recent years have I started to focus the change more consciously on myself and on my own patterns of thinking, rather than only on external things like changing jobs, exercise routines, or eating habits.

I’ve struggled many times, stumbling over the same problems and relearning the same lessons again and again. I’ve sighed in frustration when the change has felt soooo slow.

But the best part is this: I’ve also started to notice how much I have already changed.

Little by little those changes are beginning to show in my actions, my daily life, and my relationships.

And of course, with the arrival of our baby in the fall of 2025, life has been quite full of change in other ways too. 🙃

A Space for Reflection and Change

I want this to become a space that feels welcoming and inspiring for you as a reader.

I also hope to find other like-minded people who are on their own journey of change, or perhaps looking for the courage or inspiration to start one.

Maybe this Sunday series could become a small step toward a community where life changes gradually, with awareness, intention, curiosity, and compassion, while listening to our inner voice and gently challenging our old habits and patterns of thinking.

My hope is that this series can be a small step toward a more curious, courageous, relaxed, and joyful everyday life.

So let’s get this started!

A warm welcome to Sunday Reflections.

And here comes the very first Sunday reflection

I wrote and rewrote this post for a long time. Far too long. I let it sit in drafts for a couple of weeks. I definitely overanalyzed.

Well, at least we know the starting point now.

At first I excitedly wrote the first version that just poured out of my mind. Then I added a bit more. And then I got stuck thinking too much about what these Sunday Reflections should actually contain.

What parts of my everyday life do I want to reveal, and what parts do I not? Where should the boundaries be? Should some content go behind a paywall?

I tried to force myself to define some kind of framework for something that I actually didn’t want to over-structure.

I wrote one description. Too much. Another one. Still too much, and somehow too similar to what I had done before.

I bored myself.

At one point I almost started introducing myself in detail. A long, dull list of titles and career history, or the same old repetition of the difficult chapters of my life that form the background to all this.

Not now. Definitely not in the first post.

I deleted them. Well, most of them.

Maybe I’ll write about those things later in a separate post.

For now, I want to look forward with curiosity and an open mind. I don’t want to drag all the old baggage into this new playing field right away.

And I don’t want to restrict these posts too much either. I want to leave room for curiosity and experimentation.

So in practice, this series goes against almost every piece of blogging advice out there.

There’s no strict topic. I don’t exactly know who I’m writing for. I’m not telling a powerful background story that people could easily relate to… And it looks like I already exceeded my own length goal with this first one.

Well… maybe the future posts will gradually speak for themselves, and we’ll see where this road leads.

But having learned something from this process, I can share a small tip with you.

Here comes the first lesson of the week 😉

Don’t overanalyze. It’s pointless.
Besides, I probably did enough of it for both of us.

Don’t try to force clarity into something that isn’t clear yet. Start small. Be patient. Refine and clarify your plans once you’re already on the path.

So often, and here as well, less is more. (I'm still learning that.)

Have a relaxed and hopefully not overly analyzed Sunday!

A little background information anyways

I’m Kirsi-Maria and I live in Finland, in a small town. I’m a mother of three children under the age of ten and the partner of their father. My youngest is still a baby, only six months old.

I started writing here on Substack shortly before my baby was born, so in a way he and this Substack journey of mine are growing side by side. Although my baby’s pace of growth and development is impossible to compare with the growth of my Substack newsletter 😄

I’m so happy you found your way here. I hope you enjoy spending time with my Sunday Reflections.

And if you do, please leave a like or a comment!

And if you overly enjoyed it, you can also buy me a coffee 😉

I truly appreciate that you’re here and reading my words 💛 See you next week!