Hello, daring people!!
It’s that time of year. The last day of the year, in fact.
I guess it’s a bit natural to pause and reflect around this time. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s winter. Many of our organismal siblings are still living life, though at a slower pace. When I look out my window, the trees have lost their leaves. The grass is brown. Only the English ivy (an invasive species) and American holly are holding their own as spots and spires of green in the woods, but even they have slowed their pace this time of year.
The deer have generally been choosing to stay within the tree line too. I imagine the trees act as a bit of an insulator, keeping the deer a bit warmer than they would be in the open air.
Anyhoo … This slower time of year has been thinking over the past year. I know the last half of it has been a doozy.
I share this reflection not to gloat or for comparison. This post is more of an “I was here” sort of marker along my journey. Me not wanting to forget that, as my uncle might say, I did some cool shit. And remembering this because the negative stuff can be really sticky and overwhelming… But the good stuff is absolutely there…
So here are some of my highlights, and lowlights, from 2025.
Highlights (in a scattered order):
- Poetry Is Activism and I hosted some pretty kickass “Who Keeps Us Safe?” trainings across St. Pete FL, Tampa Fl, and even to Alachua County FL.
- In collaboration with Inspiring Health Collective Advocacy Alliance, I hosted “Yoga and a Walk” a few times. Together we breathed, stretched, and walked together in the Child’s Park neighborhood of St. Pete FL.
- I started going to a chiropractor, and he helped resolve *so much* chronic pain I’d been carrying. (Dr. Day in Gulfport FL.)
- I participated in and sometimes volunteered for a bunch of Bay Area Dream Defenders’ Books & Breakfast events in Child’s Park in St. Pete FL. Such powerful community events… Last Saturday of the month, if you’re local to the Tampa Bay area!!
- I worked with some pretty cool folks to help support a local Black-owned business get a better deal when the building they’d been renting in for 25 years was bought out from under them. Inspiring to see the community come together to support Mair’s Grocery in St. Pete FL.
- I “ran” six 5ks.
- I rode my bike 1,613 miles. That’s 80% of my goal of riding 2025 miles this year. (Give me my B-!!)
- I rode 47 miles on my birthday. That was fun.
- I participated in the North Carolina Mountains to Coast bike ride. I’m specifically pulling this out from the above bike-related highlight, because I’d wanted to do this ride for 3-years. I committed to it in March of 2025, before I knew I’d get laid off. I thought about canceling and getting my money back, but I didn’t. I rode it on my terms without torturing myself, and I challenged myself to stop instead of grinding myself to exhaustion each day. It was a challenging, but good, ride.
- I invited friends to go rollerskating with me for my 47th birthday!
- A bit unlike me, I took a practice trip to Danville in August. I’m not generally one for spontaneous road trips, but this was sort of that. So, kudos to me for doing the thing.
- I was invited to and honored to be a part of the Words to Lead by camp hosted by the Heard ‘Em Say Youth Arts Collective. Working with those young people was amazing and so much fun!
- I tried out some Jiu-Jitsu classes. They were interesting, but not quite what I was looking for in self-defense classes.
- I sold my house and moved to Danville, VA!! (Moving north had been on my radar for a minute.)
Lowlights:
- I lost my aunt this year, at the end of September. There’s a lot to unpack with that. I miss her immensely.
- My grandma and aunt (on my mom’s side) have been really sick and are now in a nursing home. I give great credit and gratitude to my uncle and mom for taking care of all of those details. But it’s still hard and sad.
- Getting laid off in June with less than a week’s notice didn’t feel great, especially as the senior employee of the organization. (i.e. I’d been with the organization the longest of anyone else there.)
- I didn’t meet my goal to ride 2025 miles. (A B- for me in this regard.)
- I went on a really long no-art-making time after I got laid off. I want to be more consistent with creating in 2026.
- The job search has been … frustrating (times 10).
- I sold my house and moved to Danville, VA!! Not a lowlight, exactly. But picking up and moving your entire life, especially when it’s connected to being laid off from a job, and rebuilding a new life … well … it’s not easy. So this one goes into both hats.
Summing Up
This is a quick-y list. Please forgive me if I left certain occasions or people out of this list. If you see something that you think I might have forgotten, please brighten my day with it in the comments!!
And, to you, counting down until the clock strikes midnight: I hope you did cool shit this year. And I hope you took care of yourself. I hope you created: whatever that means to you. I hope you connected with joy. And I hope you stood up to oppression where you good.
And I wish all of those things to you in 2026 as well. Happy New Year!