Creating 2025.

After doing my yearly review of 2024, it was clear to see themes emerge. The highlights were exploring new places in nature, speaking and performing on different stages, and facilitating workshops and events in the community. The highlights were not how many Zoom meetings I had, how many emails I sent out, and how many hours I spent responding to texts.

Time is finite. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

This is the opportunity to play offense with your time at the start of the calendar year. If you don’t play offense, your time and calendar will become a victim to an onslaught of weddings, soccer games, baby showers, and other people’s agendas.

So now is the time to plan out and craft your ideal 2025. Now is the time to purposefully create and block off weekends to have those adventures and experiences with people you love. I’m planning one mini-adventure every 2 months, so at the end of 2025, I will have had at least SIX (!) memorable experiences in the year.

I’m visual, so my solution was purchasing a huge 2025 wall calendar where I can see the entire year planned out. I’m organizing and color-coding travel, speaking/workshops, and my Big Six.

We can become financially rich, but what about becoming time rich? Just like becoming financially rich, it’s something we can create an cultivate. It requires discipline, knowledge, and having a good system in place.

I can’t wait to see what 2025 holds for all of us and the adventures you create and embark upon. Share with me what some of your Big Six are for the year!

Light and Shadows.

A little shadow play at the “Under One Moon” art exhibit in San Jose. Various children’s artwork of the moon was projected on the wall of the interactive galley exhibition.

There was a quick interchange between projected pieces on the wall. It became a fun artistic challenge as I aimed to match the energy of the art with my silhouette. My photographer, Anthony Lê commented, “Some artists create art. Some artists become a part of the art.” This impromptu photo shoot was that indeed.

All of life is a mixture of light and shadows. Joy and grief. Contentment and longing. Safety and adventure.

That same morning, when I drove home after a huge thunderstorm, the sun peeked out, creating a rainbow stretching across the sky. It was a tangible reminder that beauty comes from the intersection of sunshine and rain, light and shadows.

It’s up to us to dance between both- fully immersing ourselves in that playful space.

Life Advice from Japan.

Go at a pace that allows you to engage all of your senses and be fully present to life.

Nourish your body with complex carbohydrates like brown rice.

Spend time immersed in nature. Here, I’m experiencing forest bathing for the first time and engaging my senses in the smell of the fresh earth.

Carve out deliberate space in your life to do and make things just for pure joy.

Life is Too Damn Short For...

Not stopping to take a picture of the sunrise. Not wearing the sexy outfit that you’ve been saving for a special occasion. Not sending the text to the friend who’s been on your mind. Finishing the book that everyone says is good, but you can’t get into it. Finishing the meal you’re not completely crazy about. Finishing anything that you’re heart isn’t fully into. Skipping the event because you don’t know anyone else going. RSVP’ing no because your ex will be there. Listening to people complain. Holding onto clothes that no longer fit your body. Holding onto grudges. Holding onto the past. Judging your worth based on your accomplishments. Judging your impact based on your follower count. Judging yourself at all. Skipping dessert. Being afraid of forgetting your lines on stage. Being afraid of taking up space. Forgetting your magic. Spending so much time future-tripping that you forget to live in the present moment. Because the present moment is all we really have.

Assembling the Pieces.

On Monday evening, I gathered with my fellow Morning Altars cohort. We all live in different places- Maryland, Texas, and Massachusetts. We debriefed about the election results and our current emotional states.

At the same time, we collectively created altars. We arranged, pieced together patterns, and created beauty that gave our hands and hearts something to do.

“We are debris arrangers. Equipped with what we have inherited, we try to make a life, make a living and make art. We are assemblers. We forge received parts into meaningful compositions. This state of affairs is our plight and our destiny, but it also offers the opportunity to find meaning as well as to find communion with others.”
— Anne Bogart

First, rest.

Find your community.

Pick up and gather the pieces.

Arrange the debris.

Take your brokenness and make it into something meaningful.

Something beautiful.

Even if it is just for a moment in time.

Life Lately.

“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there... mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. ”
— Edward Abbey

I’m five months into my “One Year to Live” social experiment. My death day is at the end of June. Knowing this has informed the decisions I’ve made regarding how I spend my time and who I spend it with.

I’ve said yes to projects that feel impactful. I’ve said yes to the people who makes me feel more curious, contemplative, embodied, expansive, and safe. I’ve said yes to any adventure that’s in nature, especially when it involves single-track and sunsets and special people.

With the clock ticking, what a waste it is to fret about things that won’t matter in a year. Limits and boundaries do that. They distill what matters.

For now, life lately has meant living in deep gratitude, forgiving and mending old debts, and doing my best to speak to every person as if it may be the last time I see them.

Being conscious and aware of my death helps me live better.

New Beginnings.

Every new beginning
comes from some other beginning’s end
So when it’s over, make a mark
to signify a brand new start
of something new-
Something that is meant for you

Turn your pain into your purpose
Transform fear into your friend
New beginnings only happen
because something had to end.

~Julianne Kanzaki

Created with gratitude for the people, experiences, and places in my life that have contributed to my journey as I begin a new chapter of growth, partnership, and creative opportunities.

Shine As Only You Can.

Photo: Anthony Lê

Music, Makers, and Mindfulness Workshop participants who came out to create mason jar leaf lanterns.

In college, my date took me to the top of Mt. Soledad where we could see the entire cityscape of San Diego. It was a beautiful metaphor for how each person, just going about their evening, was unknowingly contributing to the light show we witnessed from above. They were in their houses, driving their cars, turning on their porch lights- all without knowing they were part of the art.

In life, I’ve come to appreciate the different ways people shine. Sometimes we need a bright stadium light to excite us. And other times, we need a soft nightlight to help us feel less afraid. Both are beautiful.

At the end of this mason jar leaf lantern workshop, we opened up the floor for sharing. Each person had their own flame of joy and kindness and inspiration.

Even those who stayed seated, nodding in silence, contributed their own glow to the evening.

Whether you’re a chandelier or a tea light, shine as only you can. You are part of the art. ✨💫