On my 2025 intentions

I was in Türkiye over the holiday period at the end of 2024, standing on a beach and looking out at the Mediterranean Sea. I do my best thinking somewhere abroad, by large bodies of water. There is something about it that feels genuinely transformative.

While I was there, I set myself six intentions for 2025. Not resolutions. Just things I would like to have done, energy permitting.

1. Rest, recover, and recycle.
2. Release fear based decision making by taking time to think things through and trusting my own instincts.
3. Dedicate energy to exploration. New experiences, moving to the city, re engaging old hobbies, etc.
4. Receive compliments without trying to downplay them.
5. Practise emotional expression by connecting with my feelings and with others, without over analysing every situation.
6. Write two short stories, even if I am the only one who reads them.

Out of all of these, number five is the one that still needs the most work. Significantly so. Which means that, yes, 2026 already has its first intention decided.

That said, I have made progress. I moved so I could have better access to social spaces. I now have my own place where I can host people. I have attended various events, including speed dating, theatre plays, and charity functions. I showed up. So I am counting those. Any win is a win.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I do not have the funds to travel this winter. Moving house took priority this year, which means I am a little stuck wondering how to recreate that same mental space without physically removing myself from my environment.

That distance matters to me. Stepping away from my usual surroundings helps me remember how big life and the world actually are, and how small I am within them. Not in a diminishing way, but in a clarifying one. When I feel like a tiny dot, a grain of sand, it becomes easier to ask the right questions. What do I actually want to do? What matters? What can I leave behind?