The good part about any conversation with my friend Cedie Duller, is that it is often the perfect balance between chill and insightful. As a screenwriter and director, Cedie has experience and insight especially when it comes to mental health that I know can be of value especially to young adults. In this episode of Burning Questions, he and I sat for a quick drink and talked about life as an OFW, balancing career and passion, navigating situationships, choosing between love or career, and even our favorite movies.

So every year instead of coming up with new years resolutions I come up with a hashtag I use as a guide for the year. I do this because it’s easier to make decisions this way.

This year my hashtag was #Thrive2023. I wanted this year to be the year of rewarding myself after a really taxing 2022. Of course this year had its set of challenges, and #Thrive2023 really had to test my emotional and mental endurance. I wanted to share with all of you 4 lessons that #Thrive2023 has taught me.

I have wanted Shaila Rebortera to be on Wildlights ever since I concepted this podcast in my mind. We have been friends for over a decade and witnessing her journey from when we were young until the beauty queen she is now always leaves me inspired and I’m sure you will find it the same as well. With the challenges she has faced this year on top of her recent announcement of her daughter Amelia, her courage to have come on and talk about these experiences has been invaluable. Our conversation takes us way back to our high school years, her past relationships, her recent posts on abuse, the story of her daughter’s birth, and how motherhood has ultimately changed her worldview.