Happy New Year
What I'm looking forward too in 2025
Well, here we are: the first day of 2025. The last day of the holidays for me and our neighbouring businesses.
I am relishing this final day of quiet. Writing. Reflecting on the year and thinking about that which lies ahead. It’s been a busy holiday of get-togethers and activities and not a lot of quiet.
That said, I did read Hello Beautiful, our book club’s current pick, in two days. When I finished, I was deep in a mountain of used Kleenix and felt that happy lightness that a good cry gives you. It was maybe one of the best books I read in 2024. For sure up there with The Berry Pickers, another top read from our book club.
I also feel great this morning because we went to bed at 9:30 PM last night. Not only are we not cool and feeling every bit of our age, but we also put in a full shift on Monday night.
We saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra in Toronto, enjoyed a yummy dinner, and then talked for hours with our friends at a corner bar on Ossington. Chris and I decided when we woke up yesterday morning that was our New Years Eve. Oh, and the TSO show was great, even though the plot in the first half of the show’s rock-opera had some holes and was pretty grim. Here’s a quick snippet:
2024 was my 40th year and my body didn’t hesitate to remind me. Sleep has become one of my greatest allies and when I don’t get enough, I feel wretched. So again, two nights past midnight wasn’t happening.
For me, 2024 was largely a year for growth, transition and just being.
It was the year I went back to working full-time. I am back in the agriculture industry, working in a marketing agency with fantastic people and clients. It’s been refreshing to work for a place that doesn’t just talk about culture, and I appreciate the familiar fit of the industry.
This was supposed to be the year we got our new house and sold our restaurant. Neither of those things quite panned out. We did get our house but we won’t be moving until sometime in 2025. My green witch era remains on pause.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying the final months in our apartment in town. There is much I will miss when we leave this delightful little village. Among them are being able to walk everywhere, including to the grocery store. I also won’t have a restaurant downstairs and will be just another remote worker, having to cook my own meals. The injustice!
Joking aside, I have realized in the last month or so, that this move will result in a much more solitary existence for me. The ease of popping downstairs to socialize with friends in the restaurant won’t exist. I will have to work again at catching up with folks to be able to fill my extrovert cup.
Also, this year certainly reinforced that we can always change our minds. Even when it comes to big decisions.
After surprising everyone with the announcement we were closing the restaurant, we later decided not to. We now have a full year under our belts without COVID restrictions or construction, and a better sense of “normal”. We’re also realizing how incredible it is we survived our first three years. This feels like the right decision right now.
This year, I also got closer to understanding who I am and what I want. I’m not sure if I’ve fully accepted that we never really figure this out, but I’m getting better at just being present and living in the moment. And there are still days I am frustrated and overwhelmed, but they’re fewer and I know how to manage through them better.
Overall, I’m content with the last year. I have many things to be proud of, including this Substack, which despite not posting as much, I still feel like has improved my writing practice. I want to engage here more this year. It gives me such a boost every time someone comments or subscribes and I value your attention and this space so much. Thank you for reading.
I had been dabbling with the idea of quitting social media for some time and did (partly)! It was literally the title of this post one year ago. In October, I deleted Instagram and have not missed it. I’ve gone back a few times to get messages, but otherwise don’t intend to return in 2025. I also abandoned Twitter for good and while I was posting to Bluesky, it just hasn’t appealed to me the same.
I also stepped away from things in real life that weren’t serving me and made a big and difficult personal decision. I won’t elaborate on it here, but I remain grateful to all who supported me in that decision and look forward to seeing what’s next.
My role on Council continues to both challenge and fill me up. I’m grateful for the opportunity it affords me to help make our community better and the way it challenges me to live my values and walk the talk. There are days I find it harder than I ever imagined and in ways I didn’t expect. It humbles me and has been one of the best teachers. And yet, it’s still very rewarding.
On a lighter note, I finally framed and hung my wedding photos. Who cares if I’m two years late and still have several waiting as part of a DIY project? I repotted several plants with better soil and am trying to save a money tree with root rot. Unknown yet if I’m succeeding. My Christmas cactus started to bloom and then immediately dropped them all when we turned the heat on. So, we’re back to the drawing board there.
And of course, there are still big things I’m working on. I didn’t get outside near as much as I would have liked. Nor did I establish any sort of spiritual practice. And I learned that wanting to be intentional about vacation travel is not enough to actually warrant an intentional vacation. We’ll be taking the lessons learned from our Iceland and Maine trips and trying to apply them to Italy this year.
Here’s some other goals for 2025:
Our home:
Plant a garden with lots of flowers.
Get moved and settled in.
Plant some new trees along the river.
Life & Self-Care:
Learn to darn and mend textiles - thank you again to AHP and Front Porch Threads for the inspo!
Fun friend nights - this post on The Reset reminded me of the fun, theme nights we once talked about doing in Covid-era and I want to make these happen this year.
Get my orchid and Christmas cactus to bloom.
Try to do as many things for our town as I can that don’t require permission and share with you.
Go on another retreat. I so loved this one to Algonquin in 2024.
Writing:
Continue writing a monthly column for The Owen Sound Current.
Participate in a writing group. Thank you to Miranda for letting me into the Writers’ Den. I hope to participate more this year.
Submit something to a contest.
Work:
Celebrate our restaurant’s 5th anniversary.
Set up a co-working routine. Location suggestions and interested remote workers welcome!
Start a monthly coffee chat in the community.
What are you looking forward too this year? What are the things you’re most proud of in 2024 or what are you happy to leave behind? If you’re a “word person”, what’s your word of 2025?
