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Hello beautiful,

Whoa nelly was the last week a mixed bag! When I (intentionally or not) tune into the news of the U.S. I feel very concerned, and there are challenges already arising in my teaching and service early in the year. And yet, I am deeply fortunate as ever to enjoy a position of freedom, fulfillment, personal expression and creativity, doing things I love in service to others.

It's been a jammed one, so though I've made progress sifting the nuggets of gold from an overwhelming number of sources, my final 2024 Annual Reflection is still to come. Can't wait to complete that process, but it just can't be rushed.

Along the way, I've noted a few especially hard things from my own life in 2024: the outcome of the US Presidential Election (though voting itself was a highlight), family surgeries and health scares, feeling threatened in a small town while adventuring at night (though again, the trip itself was awesome!).

Great things I enjoyed in 2024: personal relationships with my loving partner, family, and friends, travel and adventure, arts and culture, Tango, Tai Chi, Fountain Pens, books, music, and media, accomplishing many of my goals. More details on all of that in the upcoming blog!

Meanwhile, there are a few events I'm particularly looking forward to early in 2025: celebrating Koeln Karneval, being an Eating Disorders Awareness Week collaborator again, honoring International Women's Day, National Dance Day, National Poetry Month, InCoWriMo, Migratory Bird Day...and we got flights to Portland, Oregon & Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in April/May so my next trip home is in sight!

My 2025 declarations are coming together nicely, and soon I'm excited to publish my Word of the Year and further inspirational sources that are informing the coming 12 months in my life. This week I shared what my scheming looks like so far:

​View 2025 Annual Book Setup - Golden Art Deco Creative BuJo Collections video on YouTube here​

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My other creations, recommendations, and questions for you are:

Viewing:

• ​2025 Annual Book Setup - Golden Art Deco Creative Project Tracking, Twenty 25s & BuJo Collections video on YouTube is a tour of how I set up my projects in my Bullet Journal for the year
• Ryder Carroll's (creator of the Bullet Journal Method) 2025 Bullet Journal Setup looks like this
• Reluctantly processing news of disastrous decrees for LGBTQIA2S+ folk and others: Welp Nonbinary People Don't Exist Now... from Lynn Saga
• "Back in Action" Film with Cameron Díaz, a silly family-friendly action flick that was a good antidote to stress and heaviness as well as
• Completed watching the "Schitt's Creek" series and am a little sad about it having grown attached to the characters

Listening:

• "Solo" by Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato is my ear worm of the week (thanks to students)

Reading:

• Finished reading Funny Story by Emily Henry, a highly-recommended RomCom from last year, cried like I thought I would (I wasn't in love with it at first, but got won over)

Practicing:

• Dancing as an Adult: Ballet jumps instead of repose in retirement (in German) from ARTE
• Meditating on Nature: How to Practice Winter Nature Meditation from Spirituality & Health.com
• Planning my own way (though it doesn't look exactly like Sheng's way, either): Stop planning like everyone else, Epiphany Maps with Sheng Huang
• Not doing a no-buy per se personally, but always applying principles of conscious consumption: It's time for a no-buy year from Shelbizleee
• ​25 Ways to Simplify Your Life in 2025 with Courtney Carver/Be More With Less
• ​Mental Reset for 2025 from Jess/JashiiCorrin: if you do nothing else, consider what you want to start/experience more of and stop/experience less of in the coming year
• I don't think I'll write daily letters in February, but still appreciate the "vintage social media" spirit of InCoWriMo, International Correspondence Writing Month

Practicing Together LIVE / Adult Movement Classes this week:

• In-Studio Adult Beginner Ballet, 6-7:00pm CET Mondays, Tanzschule Tanzraum Nippes, Cologne, Germany creates a strong, body-friendly, and graceful foundation for dance (German)
• Online Yogalicious Gentle Yoga. 7-8:00pm CET Tuesdays (8-9:00am HI) provides a delicious mindful movement feast which balances strength, balance and coordination for mind, body, and spirit adaptable to all levels and conditions (English)
• Online Balletlicious Gentle Adaptive Ballet Barre+, 7:30-8:30am CET Wednesdays, consists of mostly barre with a little dancey centre work, building a strong, body-friendly, and graceful foundation for dance at home or anywhere in the world (English)

Inquiring:

• Where do you keep your goals & projects?
• Which leading metrics and actions will "move the needle" for you this year?
• How will you make your goals and habits attractive?
• What strategies of simplicity or self-care would you like to employ?
• What are you most looking forward to as we continue Gentle January and move toward a Self-Love February?

Gladly share your response to the questions above or provide other updates by replying to this email or on social media if you are active there.

I appreciate your presence in my life and would love to see you in a mindful movement class, coaching session, collaboration or other context soon!

Love, Blythe

Blythe Stephens, MFA, Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach: dance through your difficulties
and take leaps of faith into a joyful, fulfilling life

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