Ode to 2025

A Year Lived Fully, Even When It Didn’t Go as Planned

“Becoming is not about arriving somewhere new.
It is about remembering what has always been true.”

2025 asked a lot of me.
Not in loud, triumphant ways, but in the quiet endurance of showing up again and again, even when the path bent, stalled, or disappeared altogether.

So much of this year was held together with emails. Long ones. Tender ones. Updates written from hospital rooms, hotel rooms, and kitchen tables. Messages sent to keep people in the loop when my own life felt anything but linear.

When Life Reorders the Calendar

Early in the year, my dad’s health shifted everything. Multiple hospitalizations, cardiac arrest, and a long road to regaining his health. The chaotic feeling of no control, wishing that you stop time and reorder priorities without asking permission. Days were measured in waiting rooms and test results. Gratitude became very specific: another day, another conversation, another chance to sit across from him and laugh.

We are, once again, borrowing time.
And I do not take that lightly.

Devotion, Disappointment, and the Page

Creatively, this was a year of connection and devotion.
And yes, also disappointment.

I wrote. Fully. Faithfully. I stopped circling the work and stepped into it. I embraced writing not as something I fit in, but as something I showed up for. I became consistent. I kept my word to myself.

My book did not get published as I had planned. My retreat I had planned, cancelled. That truth still carries weight. But the work itself mattered. The pages mattered. The voice that formed and strengthened through repetition mattered. Sometimes the harvest isn’t visible yet, but the roots are undeniable. Timing … divine timing.

Holding Space and Telling the Truth

In 2025, I became a curator for The Turquoise Iris Journal, a role that stretched me and grounded me all at once. Holding space for other women’s stories while continuing to honor my own felt like a full-circle moment.

I also spoke publicly about my story among my peers, something that once would have felt impossible. I didn’t polish it. I told the truth. And in doing so, connection happened.

Out of that shared courage, I became part of a YouTube documentary with 13 other women, centered on The Art of Becoming. Standing alongside other creatives and storytellers, each naming our own unfolding in real time, was both humbling and affirming. It reminded me that becoming is not a destination. It’s a lived practice.

On the Road and On the Return

Travel became a teacher this year.
Madison Indiana, Chicago … Edgerton Wisconsin, Colorado Springs, Sedona, and back to Madison Indiana again. Each held a different lesson.

Some trips were about work.
Some were about rest.
Some were about remembering who I am when I’m not rushing.

Returning to Sedona felt less like a trip and more like a pilgrimage. A coming back to something ancient, steady, and familiar in my bones. Certain places don’t just welcome you, they recognize you.

Community, Craft, and Capacity

Friendships deepened. Some were forged on the road, others strengthened through shared meals, long walks, and honest conversations. A few fell away quietly, without drama, simply because seasons change. I learned again that not every connection is meant to last forever, but every one leaves an imprint.

There were shows. Some exhilarating. Some exhausting. Some that confirmed I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and others that reminded me what no longer fits. I learned more about pacing, capacity, and honoring my energy. I met amazing people, and new opportunities.

I completed certifications this year. That matters. Even when outward momentum felt slow, inwardly I was becoming more rooted, more skilled, more sure.

I also faced the truth about goals. Some were met. Some were exceeded in unexpected ways. Others simply didn’t happen. Not because I failed, but because life intervened, priorities shifted, or timing wasn’t right.

A goal unmet is not a moral failure.
It’s information. I took note.

What This Year Was Really About

What stands out most, looking back, is connection.

2025 was about connection.
To family. To friends. To community. To my own voice. To the work itself.

And beneath all of it, I felt guidance. Quiet. Steady. Unseen, yet unmistakable. A presence that nudged, reassured, and reminded me when to pause and when to proceed. I am deeply mindful of that blessing.

Looking Ahead with Joy

And now… I feel excited.

As I look toward 2026, I do so with anticipation and clarity. This is a year I will align with my goals, beginning in March, with intention and momentum. It is also a milestone year for me understanding that it will mark 60 trips around the sun for this lady. I hold that with joy, reverence, and gratitude. Not everyone is granted this many revolutions.

I feel ready. Energized. Rooted and curious all at once.

I’m welcoming the rest of winter as a season of preparation and imagination, knowing that the work taking shape now will bloom in beautiful ways come spring.

A Thought to Carry Forward

You don’t have to rush the beginning.
Some of the most meaningful work starts quietly, beneath the surface.

And I’m curious about you.

Do you begin your year right away, mapping work and goals by the calendar?
Or do you ease into it, letting winter finish its work before you hit the ground running in spring?

I’m firmly in the second camp.

Here’s to 2026.
To alignment. To creativity. To courage.
To becoming, again and again.

Thank you for rooting for me.
Thank you for following along.