First up on the wetness agenda, I plan to return to the pool and finally remedy this damn knee that I limped through most of 2024 with. For those who missed the saga, back in April I slipped on some stairs and managed to destroy most of the ligaments and tendons that hold your knee together. That generally made for a pretty shitty year, with months living in the first floor guest room (thankful for its existence), sixteen weeks on crutches (thankful for a husband who took care of life continuing without my participation, made sure I ate, carted me to appointments, and was generally my rock through it all), rehab exercises (which I hated), and deep water aerobics therapy (which I loved). I expect water and a little more hard work on my part to finish the job and make me whole again.
I plan to unapologetically drown my sorrows and cry whenever the hell I feel like it because I deserve healing from my own personal traumas, ancient and recent, and from the collective traumas we all recently shared and will likely share in the coming year. I have eliminated most news from my life for now because I refuse to feed the beast and because the world will carry on fine (or not) with or without my interest and input. With that also comes the decision to forsake social media in the new year and instead spend more in-person time with family and friends raising a glass and breaking bread together. Reach out if you are interested in joining me. I would love to spend time with you.
Like the true Water Tiger that I am, I plan to drink in creativity by continuing to write a story that has been locked away inside of my head for decades and was finally allowed to come up for air in my fall semester’s fiction writing class. This long term project may likely reach well beyond 2025, so I will certainly let you know when it has finally been accomplished, and maybe provide some sneak peeks along the way. Back in the spring, I took a class on Creativity. I am thankful I had signed up for online classes, initially because the first day of class included the biggest snow of the season, and later because my injury would have made it hard to attend classes on campus. The class provided a much needed distraction as I was laid up in bed recuperating and some great inspiration. It really got the creative juices flowing. My creativity plan for 2025 also includes me writing more in my blog which I haven’t touched since my month-long road trip in 2022 to deal with my mom’s ashes, so get used to following me here instead of on FB. Bookmark it now: Queen of Dabblin.
I plan to dive headlong into my new opportunity with Smithsonian Photo and Media. I love that I am able to keep reinventing myself at Smithsonian, and with my Botany digitizing work done I am moving on to something different, returning to more traditional photography roots from my days as a US Army photographer. Instead of military stuff though, I will be helping to document Smithsonian collections with an amazingly talented group of photographers. Here’s a recent article on the SI Photo and Media team, who they are and what they do, along with a bonus image of the US National Herbarium collection work that I finished up in early 2024. After reading the article, you might wonder (gotta read the article to understand the question!) … and the answer is yes, perhaps. I was specifically asked in the interview if I was comfortable photographing human remains. My answer was, been there done that with the Army, so yeah I am okay with it. I am pretty sure that answer got me the job. It will be interesting to see where this gig takes me.
In 2025, I plan to spend my days as if in an endless summer, floating down a lazy river, and my nights in the wettest and wildest of dreams. I’ve got lots of reading and writing queued up and a class this spring on publishing, but I am also itching to do some much-needed traveling to feed my soul and quench my thirst for adventure. My only trip in 2024, thanks to the bum knee, was to visit friends in North Carolina and buy a whole lot of plants. I feel like I owe myself some true adventures in 2025. Nothing concrete yet, except for plans to the Midwest for a June wedding, but something big or maybe several medium-sized somethings are in order and will be happening! Stay tuned.
Lastly, I have a potential plan to mix it all together in one big sloppy pot and possibly brew up an elixir of truly magical ingredients and proportions. That’s all you’re getting on that one for right now; more details to come later if and when the stars align and this dream comes to a boil.
Oh, one more thing while we are on the subject - I highly recommend reading the book “The Waters” by Bonnie Jo Campbell. It was my last read of 2024 and is truly magical. The story encompasses so much - belief in yourself; willingness to consider things outside your comfort zone; the beautiful messiness that is life; the struggle to be a good human; acceptance of and appreciation for others - flawed as they are - and what they bring to your table. Maybe this book is that insightful or maybe it merely showed up when I needed its messages the most. Regardless, it is a gem of a book that has managed to launch itself into my top 5 favorites of all time, a tough target to hit. Read it. Drink it in. And know that dry is not always the right answer.
So yes, my intentions for the coming year are very, very wet indeed. Come on in with me, the water is fine.
Peace & Love to you all in 2025.
