For the last few months I’ve been working really hard to get better and better at doing sketches of buildings and then painting them in. I have a long way to go and I use a lot of sketches online as my inspiration to see if I can get better and better. I love pairing them with either good quotes or texts that I see online. Here’s the one from yesterday. It uses a quote I had saved from @rainbowsalt a while ago.
I’m going to try to get better at sharing some of these. If for no other reason than for me to be able to keep track of my own progress, I’ll share some of my older ones as well once I get around to it.
What an interesting book! The Japanese stories always seem to have a slightly different cadence. Both the plot and the characters in this story were unlike anything I’ve read. Still thinking about it….
I think am still in a place where I don’t want to track, count, or measure things. I want to give myself grace, rest, space this year. So no specific projects and open to what might come.
Here are some themes I plan to focus on and we’ll see what form they take.
Coming Home: I had a really wonderful time with my project last year so I will continue that this year but I am not sure I will post any of it, we’ll see.
Art: I have done so so much art in 2024. I really hope to continue to do that. Watercolors, sketching, whatever else I might stumble upon.
Random/Reflection: Only intermittent reflection in 2025. When I am in the mood for it.
Reading – I read a lot this year. I continued to read netgalley/edelweiss ARC books as well as audiobooks from the library and audible. I plan to continue this next year. I will continue tracking them on goodreads.
Cooking – I am thinking of doing a 100 days of cooking project this year, if I do it, I will post them.
Here’s to a year of continuing to do what brings me joy and continuing to explore and find ways to create my own magic and come home to myself.
Another excellent read for 2025. If you like character-driven novels you will absolutely cherish this story of Martha Ballard who is the most kick ass midwife you will ever read about. Well written, and wonderfully narrated, this story was a complete joy to read and will stay with me for a long while.
Even though I read this novel in one single swallow, I think it was mediocre. Besides their obsessive love for each other, we knew nothing about either character. It was a romance without the depth and a mystery without the depth. It was still eminently readable as with all of Modglin’s novels so I swallowed it up in one day.
What an excellent, excellent start to the new year. I don’t know why I hadn’t heard of this book and I haven’t read enough of Maynard to seek all her stories but maybe I should because this multi-generational family story was one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I love character-driven stories and this one gave me characters in heaps. I loved every single moment I spent with it.
How does this make you feel? It gives me the chills. I cannot wait to spend more time at home with myself. And to keep coming home to myself again and again so I can get better at it.
How will your word support you in 2025? I want to live fully grounded in who I am and fully inside my own body and skin. This word will remind me to come home to myself. To ensure I don’t abandon myself and, for me, it’s the clear and obvious next step in living myself authentically and getting closer and closer to peace.
If you embodied this every day in 2025, what would you do differently? I would be the true and authentic me. I would be checking in with myself to ensure that my choices and words and actions come from inside myself. I would be peaceful.
What one thing could you do daily to anchor your word(s) into your routine? I can do a quick meditation every day. When I am not sure, I can close my eyes, put my hands over my heart and take a deep breath to ground myself in this moment and check with myself to see how I feel.
What are you looking forward to in 2025? I am looking forward to practicing coming home to myself.
What are you feeling apprehensive about? The unknown. I am most apprehensive about all the things that are awaiting me that I don’t know about and thus can’t “solve” and also if I learned anything this year, it’s that there’s no choice in life but to take things as they come. And I will continue to do whatever’s needed. I am also weary of possible changes that put my kids at risk. But again, if it does happen, I will do whatever’s needed.
In which areas of your life are you ready for change and growth? I think this year I want to spend less energy changing and maybe even growing and instead focus on being who I am truly. And as I need to grow, I know that I will.
What parts of yourself will you nurture in 2025? The parts of me that need grace. The parts of me that I felt like I needed to hide. All of me.
Fast-forward to December 2025. You’re sitting in a café, musing over the last 12 months. Where do you want to be…
… in your head? (work, dreams, goals) I want to continue to be happy at work and continue to do my best and support my manager in the best way possible and my team with all my strength. I want to continue to try to hold a high bar and also love all the people deeply.
… in your heart? (relationships, family, friends) I want to figure out what kind of relationships I want in my life and what really feeds my soul. And then I want to do more of that. I want to create boundaries that serve me and help me be whole. I want to do things because I love to and not out of obligation, worry or pressure.
… in your soul? (beliefs, practices, self-love) I want to be at peace. I want to be my open, generous and loving self. I want to really know who I am and find a way to connect with myself deeply and meaningfully so I can step into it fully.
… in your physical world? (home, health, hobbies) I want to go back to exercising in some meaningful way. I want to practice cooking healthy food and taking care of my body. I want to continue to do art. More than anything else, I want to give myself however much time I need and be gentle with myself and to remind myself that I’ll get there when I am ready.
air
Identify 3 unhelpful beliefs about yourself you’re ready to release:
It was my fault.
I am unworthy.
I am not good enough.
(and all the “I can’t”s because I can do anything I put my mind to.)
Decide 3 duties or commitments you feel ready to let go of in 2025
Holding other people’s stress.
Feeling responsible for others’ happiness.
Absorbing and accepting blame.
List 3 skills you’d like to learn or improve in 2025
I am always working on improving my art and I always want to journal more and take more classes so I am not going to call them out explicitly.
I want to try the shuffling class or something around dancing this year just to see.
I want to practice cooking to see what I like and what I don’t.
I also want to find a pilates or yoga practice I’d love to do consistently.
List 3 books you can’t wait to read this year: Like all years, I will read hundreds of books this year.
How could you bring more awareness to your actions this year? Journaling was truly life changing in 2024 so I plan to do that again. I also want to do meditation, yoga and pilates.
feeling
Identify 3 things about yourself you cherish & value
I am deeply kind and dependable.
I try to do what’s right as often as possible.
My capacity is unusually high.
Decide 3 ways you could be kinder to your body this year
I can feed it nutritious food.
I can exercise kindly and consistently
I can put moisturizer and sunscreen more often
I can take off my makeup!
Brainstorm 3 ways you could deepen connections with loved ones in 2025
I can tell them specifically how I am so grateful for them.
I can take time to experience things with them.
I can check in more regularly.
List 3 people you could extend compassion to (friends, family or strangers)
People struggling at work. G2G.
Myself.
My kids.
How could you expand your capacity for love this year? I think my capacity for loving others is already pretty high so I would like to spend energy expanding it inward to myself this year.
creating
Identify 3 interests you’d like to explore more in 2025
Cooking, getting good at quick and healthy dishes
More art + sketching.
Some sort of new exercise.
Choose 3 ways you’ll nourish your imagination this year
Taking new classes.
Maybe learning something new?
Reading.
Brainstorm 3 ways you could bring more creative joy into your world
Watercolors + gouache
100 day projects
Classes.
Write down 3 dreams you’d like to bring to life this year
Learning some sort of dance.
Getting more comfortable with cooking.
Growing ranunculus.
How could you bring more playful energy into your life this year? Dancing, music, cooking with A.
being
Identify 3 ways you could infuse more calm into your mornings
Short meditation.
Going to bed earlier.
Snuggling with Sadie.
List 3 ways you could cherish your home this year
Clearing out some of the spaces that overwhelm me.
Maybe cleaning out some of the garage.
Keeping up my christmas tree.
Decide 3 ways you could connect more deeply with nature in 2025
Sitting in my yard with the firepit.
Taking longer walks with Sadie.
Going to the pond more often and watching the sun set.
List 3 places in your city, town or neighborhood you’d like to explore
Honestly. I don’t really connect with this question. I don’t have this desire. I do still want to learn to drive to the airport but it’s not at the top of my list.
How could you bring a sense of groundedness into your life this year? Journaling, Meditation and taking long walks.
Back in 2013, our January OLW assignment involved setting intentions and I really enjoyed that, so I thought maybe I can do that instead.
January: Hello: What do I want from 2025? What to leave behind, what to welcome? What to continue, what to do more of and less of.
February: Nutrition: Cooking, My relationship with food. Exploring my habits and figuring out what I want and why. What I truly enjoy, What is a habit, and what I want to learn.
March: Movement: Exercise. Strength. Are there sports I might like? trying actual movements, giving up what I don’t like, what do i want to learn? where can i go deeper?
April: Body: what more can i do with my body to feel at peace with it? do i need to read more about it? watch videos to understand how to accentuate? what do i still hate and when do i feel at peace with it? when do i really hate it?
May: Parenting: what am i doing right? where do i want to do more? Are my kids okay? what do i want from my parents? what am i willing to let go of? what do i want more of?
June: Time: ways to spend my time. where do i still want to grow? what hobbies do i want to try? gardening? fixing my yard? italki? are there things i want to change in what i do with my time? where do my choices come from?
July: Learn more: what else do i want to learn? if i make it to the end of 2025 what do i want to have learned? half year check in, what worked and didn’t work so far? what more do i want?
August: Friendship. how do i make new friends? can i explore a few real avenues this month? who do i let go of for good? what do i believe about friendship? what are my expectations? what needs to be let go of?
September: Me. How I think of myself, my worth, my stories of both who i am and who i am not. how do i come back to myself when i am lost or when i am not my best self. how do i let go of what i don’t want to carry anymore? What more do i need to let go of? How can i be free?
October: Home? What do i believe about what a house needs to look like? Do I need to tidy up? What’s left? How do I like my space to look? What works for me and doesn’t work for me? Can I make a spot in the house I love? What about the yard?
November: What else? what am i still holding on to? What feels unsettled? What’s feeling heavy? What do I still need to work on? How do I want to head to 2026?There are still days left to do what i want to do, what’s on my list?
December: Good + bad, another year is over. Get really quiet. What is calling to you now? How can you meet your needs in this moment? Come home to yourself and stay here. You belong here. Sit with it all.
The Wrap-Up
This year I will say NO to doing things out of expectations and obligation.
This year I will say YES to coming back home to myself.
I wish for 2025 to feel peaceful.
What do you REALLY want this year? Name it here! I want to connect with myself as often as possible
I wholeheartedly believe that everything is possible in 2025.
Time TravelClose your eyes for a moment and imagine stepping into the shoes of you from December 2025, one year from now. You are one year older and one year wiser and you’ve lived every day of 2025 fully and completely. You have a message of encouragement about 2025. There’s stuff you want to share… stuff you’re eager to tell yourself.When you’re ready, open your eyes, pick up your pen, and write a letter from your future self, starting with Dear (your name): Dear Karen, you made it. I am so proud of you. Look how far you’ve come. You got this.
I usually pick words to sit alongside my olw. And to do that I follow Danielle Laporte’s Core Desired Feelings framework, but this year, the words came to me really quickly without even having to do any exercise. These words speak to me deeply at this moment in time. And they are all ways I deeply want to feel in 2025. Because home is a more inactive word in of itself I think these are all active words that help me come home to myself. It’s actions I can take to come home to myself.
Release: I had to pick this word to carry it with me since I truly believe it’s one of the most consistent ways I will be able to come home to myself. Letting what’s not true to me go.
Ease: Making things lighter for myself. I love the idea of leaning into ease.
Brave: This is one of my all-time favorite OLWs and I think I would like to keep it close for 2025.
Strong: I feel the desire to keep this one really close this year, too.
Kind: What will forever feel truest to me. Being the kindest version of myself. Being kind to everyone including myself. Holding everything with kindness.
So there you go: release, ease, strong, brave and kind are the group this year that will ride shotgun alongside home. Here’s to hoping this year comes bearing good gifts and good news.
I walked into December completely sure of my word for 2025. In fact, I’d picked it months ago. Actually I’d picked it in 2023 for 2024 but then as 2024 got closer, explore decided it needed to be my word so I figured I could save “release” for 2025. So it was reserved.
I was so sure I was picking it that I bought myself a balloon necklace to remind myself to release. I started a pinterest board, collected quotes and more.
But then on December 20, I read through Susannah Conway’s “Find Your Word” booklet. I read each word on her list. And when I came upon the word “home” I felt an actual chill in my body.
Home.
Yes, that’s what I wanted. Sure I wanted to release all the baggage I was carrying and all the ideas and thoughts of right and wrong that weren’t mine. But really it was all in service of coming home to myself. So the feeling I was after was being at home with myself. And I thought release was the path to get me there.
But reading that word made me realize if there was a different way to get there, that was fine with me too. Because the true goal, the end goal, was being at home in my own skin, in my own body. Being at home with myself.
I tried to fight it for a few days. Because come on I’d bought the balloon necklace. I’d been carrying the word “release” for two years now. And was I really going to change my word 10 days before the year ended.
And then I happened to be listening to Byron Katie’s book “Loving what is” and at the very end of the audio, she said:
Just keep coming home to yourself, you are the one you’ve been waiting for.
And that did it.
Home it was.
Apparently I really was going to change my word 10 days before the year started.
