2025 Lessons

As this year comes to a close, I’ve been sitting in reflection and acknowledging how much has changed around me and within me.

Like most years, I wanted 2025 to start with momentum. I love a fresh start and clear energy.

Instead, it began with my body insisting I simply stop.

I spent weeks in bed with a bad flu that turned into pneumonia and was forced to slow down in a way I hadn’t chosen, and I'm not accustomed to.

There was no pushing through and no new productivity or wellness hacks. Just rest, patience, trust and learning how to actually let myself heal.

Little did I know, that experience quietly set the tone for the year.

It softened me. It humbled me. And it began an identity shift I didn’t fully recognize at the time.

As the months unfolded, I found myself navigating new roles as a mother— one child away in college, one child at home; a daughter standing on the edge of independence, about to get her driver’s license and be out in the world in an exciting new way.

Each transition was beautiful.
And each one asked me to loosen my grip on who I thought I needed to be.

There were moments I felt untethered, realizing how much of my identity had been woven through being needed in very specific ways as a mother.

What supported me most wasn’t figuring it out… it was stepping away.

A retreat this fall gave me the space to put the roles down for a moment. To stop performing them well. To remember myself underneath them. Being away, being held in community, being truly seen and heard—it grounded me in a way nothing else could.

This year also asked me to cocoon.

To turn inward.
To tune out the noise.
To turn off the news.
To focus on my small corner of the world and what was actually within my control.

I intentionally scaled back from work. Not from lack of passion....but from deep listening. I needed space to metabolize change. To let a new identity form without forcing it.

And in that quiet, something important became clear.

When life feels heavy or uncertain, I’m not supported by abandoning myself. Letting go of all my grounding habits—movement, nourishment, breath, sleep—only pulls me further into the abyss.

What actually supports me is consistency without perfection.

Keeping the rituals.
Lowering the bar.
Staying connected to my body.

That steadiness feels safe. It feels regulating. It feels like a hand on my own back saying, I’ve got you.

This year taught me that identity shifts aren’t meant to be rushed or solved. They’re meant to be witnessed, held gently and integrated slowly.

And as I move into the new year, I feel excited and renewed, not because everything is clear, but because I trust myself more deeply. I’m carrying forward what I’ve learned, I am being more gentle, intentional and consistent with my goals.

And, I’m ready to share more of it with you in the weeks and months ahead. 

Thank you for being here in this quieter season with me. There is so much coming—but for now, I’m honoring what this year taught me and how it changed me.