Farewell 2025

Farewell, 2025!

   I’d like to invite you to join me in participating in the new year very differently than the typical modern western culture demands.
   Instead of racing into the start of 2026 like a gun has gone off and now you have to RUN, as if this is the time to push push push! Resolutions! Pressure to be your perfect self! In the darkest coldest part of the year, start doing ALL THE THINGS BETTER!—I have a different suggestion, hear me out...
   Maybe we should take a clue from ALL OF NATURE AROUND US and treat the new year like EVERYTHING ELSE ON (our half of) THE PLANET does in winter. Release and rest. This is a time for reflection and letting go of things that no longer serve us. Don’t overwhelm yourself with new habits, don’t start a thousand new projects. Give yourself an opportunity to rest. Shed your old tired leaves, lay down your burdens, reflect on what you’ve managed to achieve and whether through in the spring and summer and autumn that we’ve just left behind. Celebrate wins, learn from losses, and TAKE A BREAK. You can still do a little dreaming, think about what you’d like to start fresh with when the weather shifts to spring. SPRING is the time for starting new habits. We have the energy of the earth behind us. (Assuming you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, if you’re not, reverse accordingly lol). This isn't my idea alone, I have seen a lot of people starting to talk about this. It's such a good idea.
   In the spirit of this, I’m going to reflect on how 2025 went for me with no pressure to set intentions for 2026 that I start blasting away at January 1st.

 At the start of 2025 I had set a couple of goals for myself (like a fool, ignoring the fact that it was winter and I was not going to want to do anything for months and months, and then Unexpected Things would happen and I’d end up going on a path unplanned). I wanted to:
   1. Finish all the illustrations for Little Faun 1
   2. Finish writing Little Faun 3
   3. Make progress on illustrations for a new kids book
   4. Be able to do 1 unassisted pull up
   5. Travel to Europe to visit a friend in France
   I achieved 0 of these goals.
   YAY!!! I still have 3 or 4 unfinished Faun 1 illustrations. Faun 3 has been in rewrite purgatory all year and I’ve REALLY struggled with it. And I didn’t do squat on my own kid’s book… actually I remember now that I started an illustration and it’s like… 25% done, tucked away somewhere. Pullups are really heckin difficult, and some days I still can't do it unassisted. My passport has not been touched since I got it 3 years ago or whatever it’s been, and my France travel money fund has been raided multiple times for things that were definitely not traveling to France. Most recently, going to cut a Christmas tree. Those things are expensive?
   If you’ve been reading my newsletters you know that a lot of 2025 felt icky and heavy for me. I had an awful heartfelt struggle with some big grief and despair at the state of the world. The spring was non stop rain, the summer oppressively hot, humid, buggy. September and October were the ONLY months of good weather we had all year, not an exaggeration. I felt Seasonally Depressed all summer. Not the concoction for Getting Things Done.
   There were a lot of events I overreacted to, handled with not a speck of grace, or panicked about needlessly. Old habits haunted me. When I could have gone with the flow I flailed. When I could have been working on things I read books or spaced out or sulked in my chair. I watched too much tv—and not even anything NEW. I just rewatched Star Trek for the upteenth time.

 THAT SAID, I count this year as a big win. Why?
   Well, first off, I CAN do one unassisted pull up. Sometimes. In fact, at one point I was able to do 3 in a row! I have it on film lol. But fun fact, fitness isn’t linear for me, and if I don’t sleep well or the sun isn’t out I am not as strong. However I have consistently maintained my routine of working out! I show up every week, I am enjoying it and it’s good for my body. WIN.
   Second, I may not have made the progress I’d hoped on my books, but I DID make progress. Faun 1 only needs 4 more illustrations to be done. At the start of the year I had only 3 illustrations finished out of 15! And I know that Faun 3 is going to be so much better than it was when I finally sort out this rewrite. It needed it. And these things take time. Faun 2 is written and edited and I’m really happy with it. Progress was made, WIN.
   Though I didn’t make a new kid’s book, I did finally get to celebrate the release of the book I made with my friend Rebekah. I was able to put Wake Up Herbert on Barnes & Noble. I started reworking illustrations from Be Kind to Me for an update version coming… soon? I made a grand total of 15 pet portraits, along with quite a few other pieces for clients, and I’m starting work on a new kid’s book for a client this month! I successfully participated in Artober and along the way felt like I saw improvement in my digital art that I’m excited to bring to future projects.
   AND LOOK AT ALL THESE PAINTINGS I MADE JUST FOR FUN

   I see growth in these compared to what I was making in 2024! Two of these originals are sold and three of them I'm so proud of I'm not willing to sell them (yet).

   I mostly busted out art at the start of the year, but that’s okay! Life is waves, life is seasons, life is up and down and rest and then rush. It’s all alright. I had some really great shows and a couple kinda lame ones. I know that though I might not have been as productive as I’d hoped, I still made progress. Win.
   I read a total of 45 books so far this year. (I also want to note that I read my own books several times over in the editing process, so I feel comfortable rounding that up to 50.) I’ve never actually counted how many books I read in a given amount of time, but I think I read more this year than I ever have before in my life. Helped along considerably by being an employee at the local used and new bookstore. It was so good to have a safe place to escape to in the middle of all the crazyness this year. And some of them were really incredible books that have become new favorites.

 I’m currently in the middle of reading The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, and I’d guess I’ll finish at least that before the year is out. I went a little nuts with collecting books this year, thanks to my bookstore job and the discovery of Thriftbooks. I could not be happier. Here are my favorite reads from this year! NOT in order of appreciation, these are all pretty tied.

   1. Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers (This one I do want to note that I reread the whole Wayfarers Series and it is in my top ten most favorite book serieseseses of all time.)
   2. Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett
   3. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
   4. Gentle Chaos by Tyler Gaca
   5. Leech by Hiron Ennis
 
 Gosh, I just love books SO MUCH.

   I was also lucky enough to get to see the Blue Ridge Mountains, visit Ashville NC, and I stood for a moment in 3 states at once (Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma). So technically I went to 4 states I’d never been to before. I’m up to 16/50! Kinda cool, even if a few of those I barely saw (standing with a toe in Oklahoma for 30 seconds doesn’t really count). Maybe in 2026 I’ll finally make it to the West Coast. Did I make it to France? Obviously not. I’ve still never been overseas, or really seen the ocean. But I still traveled! How lucky! Even trips to dumpy weird places can be eye opening. I had a lot of little local adventures with my friends, too. I spent a weekend in a treehouse with two of my favorite people. What could be better than that?

   Best of all, I think this year I made some big steps to becoming a better friend to myself. I’ve been fortunate in having the help of some really wonderful people (therapists lol) and something has shifted. It’s subtle, but I think I like little Lara a whole lot more than I used to. What an incredible win.
   I spent plenty of days pouring sadness into my journal, lost and in the dark. Feeling hurt by all the things going HAYWIRE in the world. What a time to be alive. Pretty sure humans have been saying that since we could say anything to each other. I see so much happening that makes me want to become panicked and hateful, but that’s the very thing I’m seeing happen that’s causing all this madness. So I stay whimsical! I stay hopeful! And yeah, sometimes I’m very sad. But I get to share that sadness with friends who feel with me, and I get to use it to fuel my desire to lift up others with some cute little art.

   New music I fell in love with this year:
   Bonny Light Horsemen
   Golden Sun Revival by Trilling Dragons

   I do have hopes for 2026. I’m going to spend the next few months daydreaming about them and eating lots of soup. When the time is right, things will start happening. What’s meant to be will be! And wouldn’t it be great if Little Faun 1 could finally be published? And Be Kind to Me Revised could be released? And maybe I could finally see a tide pool, do a mural, or something so wonderful I haven’t even though to dream about it?
   What can you release that didn’t go like you’d hoped? What unexpected joys can you celebrate? What goals were achieved that you can enjoy the fruits of with gratitude? What flopped that you’ve learned from? This is what winter is for. Now tuck yourself in with a good read or a good game and I’ll see you in 2026.
Be well and be warm my dear pen pals, thank you for being with me,
Lara Jean
 
p.s. Another goal I had for this year: finish this work in progress in time for my newsletter. Oh, well. It will happen in its own time.