Intentions for 2025

2 minute read

  1. Prioritize connecting with other people. Meet new people (attend numerous meetups, community events), maintain existing friendships (be responsive to messages, send mail, suggest plans, welcome everyone into my home), and always make the trek, no matter the distance or weather or mood, esp. if I committed in advance.

  2. Express more encouragement by recognizing positive efforts made by friends and colleagues, as opposed to noticing immediately what could be fixed or reacting with judgments. Think about how I felt walking out of Other People’s Poems in Dec ‘24. I want people to feel emotionally safe with me.

  3. Prep my meals 1-2x a week. Do dishes immediately so the kitchen is clean/clear to use. Look to Lucia Rijker’s simple + artful meals as inspiration. And remember that cooking is fun! I love feeling delighted by the novelty of new recipes and once cracked myself up at stuffing my finger in and out of multiple pieces of manicotti. It looked so wrong. Also, my beloved bento box at lunch time.

  4. Sleep at the same time (11p), wake at the same time (7a), now that I’ve got the duration of 8h/night down.

  5. Average 10k daily steps by the end of the year (this year it was 6,320)

  6. Return to learning the classical guitar after half a year away and aim to record and submit my Grade 1 exam in September ‘25.

  7. Write on this blog at least once a month. Instead of waiting until December like I’ve done the past three years. This will help my other intention of taking more photos and videos, which I often forget to do, under the idea that I’m more present in the moment if I don’t try to capture it.

  8. Get my ears re-pierced because I’ve always wanted gold, dangling earrings: one sword, one mirror (or a rose). I think this relates to expressing myself through a personal style more. I identify with a very monochrome and practical attire, but I should introduce more elements of color and softness, more often.

  9. Take initiative to plan my own birthday with friends for the first time. This is deeply uncomfortable for me because I’ve always been private and solitary about this day and feel anxious to be responsible for a group of people I know gathering together, but it circles back to my #1 intention of the year, doesn’t it.

  10. Accept that it’s ok if I don’t do any of this. Many of these are the same things I’ve been trying to do for years, and I know I get closer to practicing each one the way I would like, each year. So, cheers, and happy new year 🎉