2025 word of the year: Growth

Since 2017 (and skipping 2021), I have chosen a guiding word for the year. This year’s word is “growth.” But, more specifically, it’s anchored around three feelings I want to have: inspired, fulfilled, and curious. 

The motto is: “I want to feel inspired, fulfilled, curious, and like I’m growing every day, in all the positive ways.” 

2024 felt like an establishing year for my photo business and a long search in figuring out what I want to do in my ex-marketing consulting career. And this year, with some foundations laid already, feels like I have the space to grow. I want to learn more things, I want to expand my skills and knowledge—not always tied to a marketable, consumable product of capitalism—I want to lean even further into what I’m interested in at the moment. I think I say this every year, but I want to ask more, a lot more, like do cold email pitches and have conversations with strangers at networking events more. 

I had seeded a few things in December that are now in motion. The first Spanish for Coffee People class was yesterday and there are three more. I have scheduled check-ins with a friend to go through the chapters of a posing masterclass (I want to feel more confident in my own poses, so I can feel that confidence in posing others). I started a weekly photo challenge at 52 Frames, so I have a personal photo project that is devoid of client input. Also, you’re encouraged to critique and receive critique, which will be interesting for me, someone who hasn’t had photo critiques as an adult. 

In the same vein of growth, I want to take the extra energy I have to invest back into my local community, people-wise (I already volunteer for a dog rescue group). I’m not sure what that looks like yet. Something on IG that has stuck with me—I wish I could find the source—community is not supposed to be easy. You have to put the work in to receive the care. In past years, I haven’t had the energy to put that work in, so instead, I just piled up lots of guilt, which isn’t healthy.

For this newsletter, I would like to incorporate photography a lot more than I have in the past. I’m also not sure what this will look like, which is a scary thing to write. I think, as a person putting out creative work that gets consumed, I tend to think about what the final work will be, how it will be received, if it’ll vibe with the audience, and skip enjoying the process of creating that work. I procrastinate my writing all the time. I’ll do a brain dump and hate it, return to it and kind of like it, get deep into putting all the puzzle pieces together, be okay with it when I publish it, and return to it months/years later and actually like it. It’s a ridiculous process to put myself through and I wish it could be sped up or smoothed down. 

So, here’s to growth this year. 

etc.

article links, personal updates, and a plant feature