What I am bringing into 2025, and what I am leaving in 2024.
Happiest of Happy New Year to all the lovely little bee's out there! New years and new seasons and new weeks are times to cleanse and begin anew, which is why I LOVE the new year. I spent a full day creating vision boards with my family a couple days ago and have journaled for hours reflecting on the past year and planning for the new year.
My one word intention for the year is connection, and to achieve this, I am trying to incorporate small tasks that will help me feel connected, wether to other people, or myself, or my future, or my creative side, just CONNECTION. Which is why I have created a list of in's and out's, basically what I am bringing into the new year, and what I am leaving behind. I wanted to share my list in hope someone, somewhere out there gets some inspiration or insight from it. I would also LOVE to hear some of your in's and out's so leave a comment below and share what your bringing into 2025 and leaving in 2024!
2025 In’s and Out’s
In’s
Daily stretching YES! Stretch your body, move, and be present in your own self. A nice morning stretch in bed before getting up, or a good night stretch before going to bed is IN. To me, stretching is like a little love letter to the wonderful things our bodies can do!
Dry brushing I was a little mystified by the idea of brushing my body at first, but once I did it, I LOVED IT! I have a whole dry-brushing post on how beneficial it can be and how to dry-brush for best results. It's truly one of my favorite morning routine additions, I feel ALIVE after a simple dry brushing.
Tea drinking I am not a coffee drinker, but I am a tea drinker. It's a nice ritual to have something you look forward to drinking every morning, so I am keeping some morning tea in 2025! Tea also has loads of different health benefits, depending on which one you choose to try!
Reading before bed Reading is my favorite hobby of all time. I remember reading books before bed as a child and falling in love with chapter books in elementary school and growing the love all throughout middle and high school and now in college reading has taken off even more, so seeing the reading community building truly warms my heart. Comment some of your favorite books or anticipated reads!
Creating over Buying As humans, we were once KNOWN for what we created. Each family or person had a trade or a craft. But the production line and the industrial revolution really demolished this artistic beauty in humans. There is something really healing and meaningful about creating over buying. Wether it be making your coffee at home or creating a bookmark or learning a new hobby like pressing flowers/leaves. Creating is the core of humans.
Calling/facetiming friends I can't even count how many times I've questioned the meaning of a text message because I couldn't hear the tone. I've wrongly assumed that they said something and meant another due to this too. Tone, inflection, and facial expressions are a language in itself that if you only text, you could easily miss. In 2025, I am all about calling or facetiming my friends. I have slowly begun incorporating this and have never felt better after a conversation!
Hand written letters I began this over a year ago, and its become by favorite thing. I write everyone hand written letters now. Thank you notes, I miss you letters, How are you doing letters, Happy birthday letters. It's so meaningful and really allows you to take time to appreciate and show gratitude for the person you are writing to.
Trying new things The only way to grow is to leave your comfort zone and try new, uncomfortable things. This year my I am vowing to try new thing, have new experiences, and truly allow myself to feel discomfort and learn to enjoy that discomfort until it becomes comfortable!
Personal style Recently, I moved and found that the style is a bit different than I am used to. But I also am aware that its not me. So I am dedicated to staying to true what I love, just like I encourage everyone to stay true to what they love. I will admit it took years of trying different styles and tops and cuts and colors to find what I love and what I don't. But it was so worth it!
Mocktails Happy early birthday to me! YAY! I am turning 21 this year and everyone I've told has mentioned alcohol, but for me, this year will not include that. This isn't to say you should drop all drinking and be sober, but I do believe that alcohol consumption is far too normalized in our world. Personally, I choose to be sober, and will enjoy some fun mocktails for my 21st birthday and on! I really believe you can have fun with people and go out and not need to rely on alcohol every time.
Journaling The process of putting those thoughts on paper and pulling them out of head to stop constant thought cycles! Try some fun journal prompts from Pinterest or do some gratitude journaling! I have many posts on journaling to check out and for those that want to begin from scratch, here's a peak into my process on starting a new journal!
Out’s
Screen time before bed Personally, I love watching calming asmr videos before bed, but I know that the light given off by my phone and the act of scrolling online before sleeping is truly disrupting good rest I could be getting. So I'm hoping to push my no screen time rule to at least 30 mins before bed.
Scrolling to distract
I will admit this will be one of the hardest OUT's for me, as scrolling online is the knee jerk reaction when I am feeling anxious about something, and while it masks the scary feelings for a second, it never lasts long. The moment I turn off my phone, I'm back to those anxious feelings ten-fold now because it just built up.
Fear of aging We all age. There has been such a push for keep ourselves looking younger in the media, but I find a certain beauty in the aging process. That we will never look exactly the same as we did once, and that we are constantly changing and evolving creatures. So why fear this beauty?
Being embarrassed We are human, we all make mistakes. So why we we embarrassed by it. This seems like a stretch to remove all embarrassment, but even the action of trying to own your mistakes and laugh about the imperfections is a success and step in the right direction.
Snapchat
This has been and will continue to stay OUT for me. I used to spend an hour or more just trying to keep streaks alive each day. I would freak out if we went on vacation without service or if I didn't have my phone all because I was afraid to loose my streaks. It was DRAINING for myself and debilitating to creating personal long-lasting connections with people. If I could suggest one single thing to get rid of in 2025, it would be Snapchat. Call your friends instead, send letters to people, do something to build a meaningful connection.
Skipping breakfast Breakfast is so essential. It doesn't even need to be the typical breakfast foods, it's just breaking the fast you did while sleeping. Something nutritional and delicious is the way to start off a good day.
Saving outfits for better occasions Wear. The. Outfit. Why are we picking out adorable outfits just for them to sit in our closet until the perfect time? WEAR THE OUTFIT! Wear it twice if you want! Have fun with your clothes and just wear what you feel is cute, when you want to wear it!
Pretending not to care Listen, I believe it's insanely COOL to care. Why pretend you don't? The coolest people I know have people, things, ideas that they care deeply about! They show PASSION and it's refreshing to see that in world that constantly attempts to achieve nonchalance.
Following every trend We don't need that one fur jacket that can only be bought at one place and worn in this specific color on these specific days.....come on. Following every trend is letting yourself be led by the masses instead of doing what you LOVE. It's time to be YOU. Find what you love! If its trendy, than YAY, if its not, YAY! Find what you love, and stick to it.
Let's have an amazing 2025.
Cheers to a year of learning to be uncomfortable, encompassing your authentic self, not caring what others think, creating genuine connections with people around us and ourselves. And again, leave a comment with some of your In's and Out's for this year!
Here's to a lovely new year,
B.
work/life balance & self care are in clutter & unreciprocated friendships are out