At the end of December I often write some words on what the past year has meant, or what I might be aspiring to in the coming year. But over the weekend, when asked about 2025 goals on a stroll down icy trails in Banning State Park, I struggled to articulate much other than to say I should keep doing what I have been doing. That, I suppose, is a good sign.

Two pieces I have written the past year on here explain my equanimity. The first was the 2023 year-end reflection on harbour minds. I continued that push outward even further this year, became a literal pilgrim and knocked out another continent, enjoyed living this way and the questions it posed. Over the past several years regular journeying has become a part of who I am, and that will continue into the foreseeable future. I am in many ways living as I mean to live, and generally making progress in the spaces where I am not. The 2023 post includes a lament about my lack of writing time, and while I was not dramatically better in 2024, I did carve out an escape to kick off a project. The second notable piece, on my San Diego retreat in November, both announced some writing ambitions and reflected a certain comfort with self that made that project possible. If I were to choose a Joan Didion essay that describes this shift (because of course I would), it would be “On Self-Respect.” To whit: “To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is potentially to have everything: the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent.” People who have it “are willing to invest something of themselves; they may not play at all, but when they do play, they know the odds.”

I will have some things to post in the coming weeks. I’ve been noodling on one little piece for a bit now. I also feel some responsibility to comment on the state of Duluth East hockey at some point in the next month, though I am afraid that this year that task feels more like an obligatory tending of a flame until it can burn brighter again in the future. Other bursts of inspiration may come, as they sporadically do. But more than anything I want to focus on the project I set for myself in San Diego. The holiday season has predictably been a hard time to do any of that, and I need to be more intentional about slipping it in between hockey games and such. It is time to write a bit but mostly a time to edit, and then to look for brutal, honest feedback and likely deal with rejection, because that is how this game goes. But I am at a point where I can handle that now.

And so I hope I can get to work. Thanks for being a part of the journey.