January is usually associated with deprivation, restriction, hustle, and reinvention. But this year, I’m choosing to see it as a time of celebration and abundance.
Following the guidance of fellow creative Julianna Salguero (read her Substack “Keepsake”) I’m trying to view every year as a play made of twelve acts. Each month gets a title and a visual collection of words, inspirational images, and other ephemera.
As a January 2nd baby, my birthday has always been a tricky one to make special — 8 days ago it was Christmas, 1 day ago we started a new year, and everyone I know is usually traveling, recovering from ringing in the new year a little too hard, or being a stickler about Dry January.
Nevertheless… I persist.
This year, instead of a party or elaborate planning, I simply spent quality time with some of my best friends. We went window shopping, got coffee, browsed book stores, and ate comfort food. My birthday cake was a surprise cup of gelato with a candle. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to 29.
Filling my day with these sweet, small moments reminded me of how little life happens through my phone screen. When I sit scrolling, I feel like time has stopped for me, and life is just happening elsewhere in the world. But walking with a friend, getting lost in conversation, following where our feet take us, that’s where the life happens.
In an effort to do more living this year, my intentions include:
Don’t use my phone when in motion — walking on the street, riding the subway, walking up stairs. Once you notice the sheer amount of people around you not looking at the world around them, you can’t really unsee it. The subway bit will be the most challenging, but in truth, I don’t need to check the time, weather, or my texts for my mere 15 minute commute. Put. It. Down.
Go to 50 yoga classes. I love yoga, especially hot yoga in the winter. I always complain about not being able to go as much as I like, and what’s stopping me? Make time for what you care about, and your life will take shape around it.
Write book reports for every book I read. I read 42 books last year but if you ask me which one was my favorite it takes me an embarrassing amount of time to answer. It’s not that I forget the books I read, but I don’t sit with them long enough to really form my own opinion of them. I don’t feel confident in my gut response to the question and feel the need to reference my phone for confirmation of what I read and how I felt about it. I finish the book, I mark it as ‘read’ and drop a gut-rating on Goodreads. Then I instantly compare my rating to that of my friends who have read it before me. Then I reconsider — Did I really think this was a four star read? Enough! I shall revert to elementary school tactics for reading comprehension and see how I feel at the end of the year. And I’ll have a little notebook filled with my thoughts on books I read.
Say “yes” more. It’s so easy, especially in the winter, to say no. To what? To anything. But I resolve, or intend, to change. Meet new people, discover new restaurants, hear your new favorite song — these things come stories I’ll be thankful for finding out in the world.
Shoot one roll of film per month. And print the goodies for a photo album.
Stop agonizing over whether or not something is “enough” to share. The amount of hours I’ve spend worrying over captions, relevance, or whether something feels on-brand… and for what? I’m not being graded by my social media presence! Sure, there’s a small bit of pressure to perform, considering my job is to curate the grids of my clients, but I am not for sale. The time spent contemplating “to post or not to post” should not surpass the amount of time it took to create it in the first place. Either let it rip or move on. Bless and release.
Visit five new museums or galleries. No explanation needed I just love museums.
Never leave the house without a tactile form of entertainment. A book, a journal, a deck of cards — something to reach for that isn’t a screen.
I see abundance in the amount of time we’re given each day. I see it in the hundreds of people I pass on the street, and in the immeasurable number of places I could go on any given day in New York. The volume of possibility can feel overwhelming, but I’m choosing to hold onto the wonder of it instead.
It’s a new year. A new day. A fresh start. How lucky are we?
If you’d like to join me in my pursuit of living, here are some questions to consider:
Did you celebrate your wins from last year?
Did you find a new hobby or source of inspiration you want to dive further into?
What’s something you love about your life right now? How could you emphasize that this month?
Who made a difference in your life last year? Why?
Is there a place you visited in 2025 that holds a happy memory? What was it? Why do you think it came to mind?
What fueled you in 2025?
How do you want to feel at the end of this year?
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