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January was Jammed Like a Filled Donut – 2026 Month 1 Reflection

The first month of 2026 was absolutely packed, with a bit of restful reflection at the start and then a full-tilt boogie back into teaching and creating, plus more snowy wintery weather than I have yet to see in Cologne!

Early 2026 was chilly and festive! (icy sidewalk, boots, NYE detritus)

January Jam

At the beginning of the month I celebrated the New Year and then rested briefly at after a hectic holiday season with my beloved, friends and family. Planned joyful commitments for a new whirl around the sun in the New Year, then it was time to return to teaching and creating with a vengeance.

As evidenced by the publishing of this article in Quarter 2, it took me the better part of the first quarter to get complete on last year and have now moved on to looking back at the early months of 2026. It takes as long as it takes, and I find value in reflecting on events and efforts of the last period to set the tone for continued gentle action and sustainable growth.

Teaching and publishing, enjoying the artistic work and presence of others, recovering from a demanding and exciting period, and beginning the process of reflecting on the past year, dreaming and planning the next were the themes of early 2026:

  • Silvester with neighboring friends: Happy New Year!
  • Media and Cultural events including dance, theatre, and music
  • Rest, recovery, deep reflection, planning
  • Decluttering, cleaning, home maintenance & organization
  • Made delicious warming Carrot Ginger Soup from the Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook (though I measure with my heart)
January Flip & Favorites – Review, Reflect, Refresh video on YouTube

Bullet Journaling & Planning

The above YouTube Video is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Book including goals, glows, media favorites, and events I recorded along the way.

I shared my initial setup on Instagram here: “Creative January spreads in my seasonal Bullet Journal ready for fresh adventures.” A bit of wintry, snowflake decor was good for my soul and for once foretold the weather.

Continued to set up my 2026 Annual Collections, created a Word of the Year collage as well as updated Monthly, Weekly, and Daily logs, created February spreads and schemed about Quarter 1 themes and events.

Teaching & Coaching

Regular Mindful Movement classes in Balletlicious Ballet Barre+ and Yummy Gentle Yoga continued throughout and studio classes in Ballet resumed after a winter break.

There are a couple of 1:1 coaching slots currently available and I will announce exciting workshops and new projects as the year unfolds.

Warmed up with a simple homemade Carrot Ginger Soup

Writing & Publishing Articles

I published 4 articles in January, on track for my goal of sharing weekly in this format:

  • A November to Remember – 2025 Month 11 Reflection: The month of November in my life was about gratitude, harvest, and bittersweet endings, dancing & prolific creativity! Last of the colorful leaves fell from the trees, Beaver Moon, Transgender Day of Remembrance, American Thanksgiving. In this article I wrap up the month of November of 2025 in my projects, life and events.
  • Notebook & Supply Lineup – Analog Journaling System for Reflection, Memory, Planning & Creativity Notebook “Ecosystem”/Techo Kaigi article: The concept of relying on analog tools, paper first, for planning, writing, organizing thoughts and projects is absolutely down my alley. For years creators have used the term “Techo Kaigi” or planner meeting in Japanese, to describe this reflection on current notebooks in use, as well as the journals and creative supplies that go along with them to form a cohesive method.
  • December was a Bender of Creation, Celebration & Rest – 2025 Month 12 & Quarter 4 Reflection: The last quarter of 2025 and holiday season were particularly full for me even compared to past hectic years, and I worked (danced, taught, published…) hard, then partied hard with my beloved, friends and family. I then collapsed into a short period of lovely rest to reset.
  • Pluck Luck in 2026 – Word / Intention of the Year: Declaring my 2026 Word of the Year is PLUCK! Writing out my word in my Bullet Journal, grounding it in beautiful imagery, verse and rhythm, placing it where I will interact with it daily and be reminded or where I’m coming from in 2026 will provide support for my commitment, provide a solid place for being and making a powerful stand.

Filming & Sharing Videos

I published 4 videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel in January on the topics of dance, creativity, and joyful living:

Creative Notebook System 2025 into 2026 video on YouTube
Compass Tours Chaines – Ballet Turns Visualization video on YouTube
  • Compass Tours Chaines – Ballet Turns Visualization – Tasty Technique Tip Remember drawing circles using a sharply-pointed compass? One end would stick into the paper while the other with a pencil point swirled around it. Such a device can also be used to measure length for length, swiveling to walk its legs across the page, or spinning one side and then the other. This spinning half-turn by half-turn resembles a chain of chaine turns (tours chaines deboules) that shimmers across the stage and studio in ballet technique.
December Flip & Favorites video on YouTube
  • December Flip & Favorites – Review, Reflect, Refresh – Creative Bullet Journal of a Teaching Artist: December 2025 was hardworking, celebratory and finally restful in my creative life. This is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Bullet Journal notebook.
Winter Currently Inked Fountain Pens 2026 video on YouTube

Connecting: Email & Social Media

Email Newsletter

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as work from others that I believe to be of value for fellow creatives is to subscribe to my email newsletter.

I sent one Email Newsletter in January, Gentle January, easing into 2026, slow intention-setting & nourishing movement.

Socials

In January I also posted 7 times to Instagram, over once per week. It is my honor to be connected to you there, here, online and in-person!

Several snows in January led to merriment in the city, here a snowman

Creative Challenges

In January my creative “challenges” included reflection and completion on 2025, dreaming and planning 2026 including Bullet Journal set-up. I was already coordinating expected participation in Eating Disorders Awareness Week as a collaborator in February and contributing to International Women’s Day events in March, continued creating curricula for my in-person and online classes, as well as video filming and editing and writing.

Twenty 26s in 2026

Inspired by Jess/JashiiCorrin on YouTube), this creative challenge is a playful way to track various leading metrics, projects and activities I wish to keep an eye on.

Having found such a structure useful since 2023, I continued to choose and measure progress on projects in a similar way each year since, and in January I was still choosing my focus areas, even as I took my first action steps toward my annual priorities (I would publish my Twenty 26s in 2026: Analog Project Planning & Action Tracking, Creative Bullet Journal Style article in early February).

Planned future adventures in my Bullet Journal

Media Musings

My January in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:

Books & Reading

Books

I completed reading one nonfiction book and one novel in January:

  • How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz: I borrowed this nonfiction audiobook through the Libby App/my library, found it to be a good resource for resilience in any season, but especially those that challenge our ideas about how we should feel or where to find beauty in life.
  • Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan was an emotional romance ride with likeably complex and imperfect characters who grow over the course of the story
Poetry

Listening Highlights

Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.

Music
Playlists
  • Balletlicious Barre+ Dance playlist on YouTube contains all my jams for early year and anytime
  • 2026 Plucky Tunes playlist on YouTube is a new one to collect all the best new tracks and melodies that come up over the course of the year
  • Music of 2025 playlist on YouTube was a fun part of reflecting on the year past
Songs
“Satiri” Italian contemporary dance concert was a duet with live cello music by Bach

Viewing Highlights

Live
  • “Op Bläcke Fööss noh Kölle” is a musical in the local Koelsch dialect that we attended live at the Scala Theater, with a charming troupe, silly comedy, and regional flavor.
  • “Satiri” Italian contemporary dance concert was a duet with live cello music by Bach and an inspiring way to start the year at the culture institute
Films

Movies watched that month:

  • Went to the cinema with friends for the “Lesbian Space Princess” Australian animated sci-fi musical and found both the film and audience delightful
  • “Desert Hearts” we bought on DVD in order to consume this bit of lesbian cinematic history and it hasn’t aged particularly well but is a true 1985 period piece
Series

Series streamed in January:

YouTube Videos & Channels
Ela sanded and refinished our kitchen counters over the New Year’s holiday

Questions for Reflection

  • Do you choose a Word of the Year?
  • Which media support your goals and mental health, which not?
  • What are you making?
  • How’s your 2026 rolling so far?

Resources for Further Exploration

My final recap of 2025, 2026 Word of the Year, Twenty 26s, explorations in dance, coaching, further adventures in creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst they/she
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
dancing through difficulty
taking leaps of faith

Floating Through 2025 – Reflecting on a Year’s Soaring Times & Storms

Twenty Twenty-Five

so glad to be alive,

finding me floating,

spreading wings to fly.

Jumping, flapping, climbing

then soar, a bird in the sky,

rising with the thermals,

lifting others to sunshine.

– Blythe Stephens, 2025

That’s the poem I wrote in declaration of my Word of the Year for 2025 and practices to make it so. Now how did it go?

Taking time over the post-holiday break and over the course of January to reflect on my results from the past year as well as the events, highlights and accomplishments I have recorded along the way is important to my creative process of growth.

In 2025 I accomplished many of the goals I set out for, and experienced both unanticipated challenges and exciting opportunities!

Sipping on an iced mocha in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i

Float Year

2024 was about Leaping, and I carried those quantum leaps forward in 2025 with Float being my Word of the Year, standing for a state of lightness of being through the adventures that I knew would find me and the projects I boldly declared. This state of being underpinned all work with students, clients, and in my individual goals.

2025 Annual Book Flip – Creative BuJo Collections shows my projects “after the pen”

Annual & Monthly Reflections

Participating in Judith Peters’ (aka Sympatexter on YouTube) Jahresruekblog or Yearly/Annual Review Blogging Challenge (in German) at the end of 2023 into January of 2024 greatly inspired me to get consistent with my Monthly Reviews, which has helped with Quarterly and 6-Month check-ins and my annual retrospective process.

As I contemplate the events and emotions of a year, I look back at daily logs, my BuJo, photos, music, books, viewing, creative challenges, teaching, coaching, finances, adulting, travel, hobbies, personal and family life, choreography, creative challenges, world events and politics, published articles, videos, emails, in every corner of my life!

The pull of a New Year is strong, but I respect the time it takes me personally to complete a deep reflection and completion process. January I’ve noticed is the time for me to both look back and forward, a liminal space between, with the living out of my new year’s intentions happening with the resurgence of the Spring. I appreciate the chance to review what I wanted to do and create, results, life experiences both delightful and difficult, and get clear on my approach going forward.

Here I’m reviewing my goals and intentions, highlights and lowlights, joys and lessons of 2025 in order to move powerfully in 2026.

High surf in Laupahoehoe, Hawai’i on a road trip island tour

2025 Intentions & Outcomes

  • Life: Float into the life of my dreams (spiritually, creatively), help others do likewise, Connect, Share Love, Adventure, Travel, Celebrate, continue Rituals and Habits. Yes I DID bring lightness, responsiveness and ease (never 100% but often!) to my work, students and clients, beloveds and acquaintances! I was blessed with rich cultural experiences, travel, and adventure.
  • Growth: my YouTube Channel surpassed 1,000 subscribers! I have seen growth in followers on other platforms, readers, and enrollment as well, increased the number and type of my offerings and continued to write, create, and share in multiple media. Proud of my efforts overall and a few projects specifically.
  • Revenue: I do not share financial details here in these articles, but like my other stated goals, I saw distinct growth in 2025. New opportunities continue to present themselves and I am so grateful to be able to do work I’m passionate about!

Annual Glows + Grows

As with my reflections on other periods of time, in Daily Logs, Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly Reflections, I take note of what went well, what was challenging, surprises and unexpected circumstances, highlights and lowlights.

Daily Log book, Seasonal & Annual books, fountain pens at the beach

Glows: Highlights, Experiences & Accomplishments

There were some standout moments related to my intentions, as well as delights and enriching experiences that arrived over the course of the year.

I’m especially pleased and proud of:

  • Advanced Dance Program daily ballet technique class for aspiring professional dancers in an intensive multi-style 3-month training
  • SIBMAS Building Bridges Symposium at the Tanzarchiv in Cologne and Theatermuseum in Duesseldorf, where I met a fellow University of Hawai’i at Manoa performing arts alumna and many other inspiring colleagues from around the world, and about which I shared on Instagram
  • Lobby für Mädchen girls’ empowerment field trips for elective classes, education on body image, media, advice location and resources
  • West Hawai’i Dance Theatre’s production of “The Wizard of Oz Ballet” at the Kahilu Theatre was delightful, and I had the honor of serving as Emcee again
  • Fine Feedback Workshop at WHDT (April) equipped dancers and choreographers with tools to distinguish constructive, empowering criticism, helping them dodge hate and instead appreciate and advocate for performing arts
  • Gay PRIDE (June), and Cologne CSD, celebrating Gender Nonconformity, Safe(r) Spaces, Political Protests – Vote Love!
  • Maintaining daily Yoga, Meditation, Reading, Writing, Gratitude + Abundance, German practices, weekly Physical Therapy, Improvisation, Monthly Reflections, and Creative Outputs
  • Still so in love and celebrated my 7th Anniversary with Ela!
  • Trip Home to Kailua-Kona, Emceed again for West Hawai’i Dance Theatre’s “Wizard of Oz” Ballet there, practiced Tai Chi by the sea, had quality time with my parents

Ela and Blythe at Horsetail Falls, Columbia Gorge, E’s first visit to Oregon!

Creative Challenges

In 2025 I both hosted and participated in a variety of stimulating creative challenges, such as:

  • Twenty 25s in 2025 – This was the organizing structure of BuJo Collections & Projects and I updated the trackers throughout the year, noting when I completed each “25.” See below for the details of each…
  • Continued Publishing Monthly Review Blogs (12)
  • Depth Year/Conscious Consumption: Because of my intention to consume mindfully, create little waste, live simply, I created a Low Buy tracker for the year, to keep tabs on non-necessity personal items purchased or otherwise obtained. This wound up including glasses and clothing items for a Karneval costume, Stamps for making impressions in my journals and for my students, Cosmetic articles, fountain pens & ink, other stationery and supplies all of which has brought value and utility
  • International Women’s Day collaborator, Accelerate Action – Celebrate International Women’s Day with A Blythe Coach
  • EDAW Eating Disorders Awareness Week collaborator for the 3rd year in a row
  • World Tai Chi and Qigong Day (April) set up in Kailua-Kona and participated in the global event
  • National Dance Week April 19th-28th, 2024is an annual celebration of dance that takes place from April 19 to 28 this year. Do you know that dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from one generation to the next, before the invention of written languages? The week is specially set aside to spread the delight and joys of dancing, and to create awareness about its impact and benefits.
  • International Coaching Week (May), for which I created a Coaching Toolkit YouTube Playlist full of transformative tools
  • Gay PRIDE (June), and Cologne CSD (July), celebrating Gender Nonconformity, Safe(r) Spaces, Political Protests – Vote Love!
  • July: Non-binary People’s Day
  • Self-Care September
  • Dance Daily December – Mindful Movement Advent Calendar

Publishing Articles

Among the 35 articles I published in 2025 were monthly and quarterly reflections, as well as blogs on the topics of dance and creative living.

Monthly Reflections

My monthly review articles provide a regular opportunity to refresh my efforts, to remember experiences, highlights, favorites, and challenges over the course of the year:

3 Favorite Articles

The creative challenges I took on also led to a few of my favorite blog articles that I published in 2025:

Emancipatory Dance – Dancing Intersectional Feminism
Emancipatory Dance – Dancing Intersectional Feminism
Emancipatory Dance – Dancing Intersectional Feminism article
How to Find & Foster Safe(r) Spaces in a Diverse Dancing Life
How to Find & Foster Safe(r) Spaces in a Diverse Dancing Life
How to Find & Foster Safe(r) Spaces in a Diverse Dancing Life article
Looking Forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating – Personal Curriculum
Looking Forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating – Autumn 2025 Personal Curriculum
Looking Forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating – Personal Curriculum article
Themed Series

I also created and added to existing series on topics of interest:

My Twenty 25s in 2025 Bullet Journal spread at the beginning of the year

Twenty 25s in 2025

In service to my overarching long-term goals, I declared twenty focus areas or more regular habits/practices. This was playfully inspired by JashiiCorrin on YouTube, and I first participated with a Bullet Journal spread to declare and track projects in 2023. For each of the twenty chosen actions for 2025, I planned to make at least 25 contributions, and in this way consistently support of my major goals and most valued priorities.

For additional accountability and to encourage others to join in their own way, I declared my Twenty 25s in 2025 in this blog article.

The year prior, I shared my Twenty-Four 24s in 2024 in this blog article.

My results? In 2025 I met or exceeded 16 of my 20 announced targets, not bad! In the area of Books Read, I – , I did complete 23 titles and I’m not attached to a certain number, more importantly to reading for enjoyment, learning, and creative inspiration. See below under “Marvelous Media” for my favorite reads of the year!

Practices I did at least 25 times:
  1. Daily Logs Written – 365 entries
  2. Morning Pages – 245 entries
  3. Articles Written & Published – 35 total blog articles published here on ablythecoach.com
  4. Email Newsletters Written & Sent –38, a top priority is to stay in touch with my inner circle of students, clients, and likeminded creatives in this way, not susceptible to the vicissitudes of Social Media.
  5. Poems Written – 39 acorns recorded
  6. Videos Created & Published – 53 new videos shared to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel, especially proud of my work here!
  7. Choreography Created – 25 sketches/segments, very much supported by hosting Dance Daily December (above).
  8. Bullet Journal Spreads – at least 25, including annual collections, monthly and weekly spreads, and quarterly reflections, plus special events and trips
  9. Practice Yoga – as this is meant to be a daily ritual, I reached my 25th practice in January, and 302 practice sessions total, at least a few minutes of physical self-care
  10. Meditate – another daily ritual, 280 sessions total
  11. Gratitude & Abundance – all 365 days
  12. Deutsch – all 365 days
  13. Physical Therapy – about twice weekly, 52+ sessions
  14. Classes Taught – 506 including online, in-studio & special workshops!
  15. Social Media – 125 Instagram posts
  16. Financial Fun – weekly, about 52 times balancing books & budgeting
In May 2025 we reached 1,000 subscribers to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel!

Sharing Videos

I posted 53 new videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel, surpassed 1,000 subscribers, and continued to grow through the process of creating and sharing video content and receiving feedback and community connections.

Connection, Email & Social Media

I sent 38 Email Newsletters in 2025, full of value-packed resources for fellow creatives. Some months I was particularly active on Instagram and Facebook, or even TikTok while posting my Dance Daily December videos.

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well selected work from other creators is indeed to subscribe to my email newsletter.

Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person!

“The Wizard of Oz Ballet” by WHDT at Kahilu Theatre, where I got to Emcee again

Marvelous Media

Many enjoyable books, series, films, dance and music concerts, art museums and galleries illuminated my year, here are some of my favorites:

Reading & Books

Nonfiction & Poetry
Poems

Favorite poems read in 2025 (in no particular order):

  1. “Ring Out, Wild Bells” from “In Memoriam” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
  2. “This is the Time to be Slow” by John O’Donohue
  3. “Morning” by Billy Collins
  4. “Lines Composed in a Wood on a Windy Day” by Anne Bronte
  5. “The Present” by Michael Donaghy
  6. “Down the Pub” by Kae Tempest
  7. “Close, Close All Night” by Elizabeth Bishop
  8. “Hymn to Time” by Ursula K. Leguin
  9. “The Darkly Thrush” by Thomas Hardy
  10. “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth
  11. “Japanese Maple” by Clive James
Novels & Series

Top Fiction Authors of my year:

  1. Olivia Waite’s Feminine Pursuits romance series was a fun find in believable historical queer fiction, including The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows, where I particularly enjoyed the publishing, art, and nature themes and the middle-aged main characters with a slow-build connection (but could do without the steamy scenes) and The Hellion’s Waltz, where musical and fashion design themes were stunning
  2. Read four of Abby Jimenez’ Rom-Coms: The Friend Zone, Happy Ever After Playlist (Book 2), Part of Your World, and Say You’ll Remember Me and found she really has a way of writing characters that endear me like real folks in my life
  3. Read a few more from the Flavia De Luce series by Alan Bradley that I began out of order in 2024, a whimsical mysteries set in 1950s rural England: #2 The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, #3 ​A Red Herring without Mustard​, #4 ​I am Half Sick of Shadows, . 
  4. Carley Fortune, whose One Golden Summer was just the last summer reading fling I needed and led to me putting further titles on hold…

Music & Listening

Impactful sources of hearing pleasure and information:

Songs & Albums
  • “Soleil Bleu“ song by Bleu Soleil x Luiza was all over our radio
  • Grooved to this Song for IWD
  • “Worst Behavior” by kwn ft. Kehlani: the video made us laugh at first, but got to be a catchy ear worm
  • “Bodies” Tycho Remix is very danceable
  • “Love Letters” song by ODESZA (feat. the Knocks) accompanied movement later in the year
  • Music from the “KPop Demon Hunters” Film, such as “Golden,” “The Shutdown,” “Soda Pop”
  • “Defying Gravity” and “Popular” songs from “Wicked” musical movie
  • “Lass mich gehen“ song by Ayliva
  • International music I might not have heard if it weren’t for a 5th & 6th Grade Hip Hop choreography collaboration this semester: “Mona Lisa Motion” by ZAH1DE, “Sigma Boy” by Betsy & Мария Янковская, and “Nivelul ulmator” by Iuliana Beregoi
Playlists

Viewing

Live Performances
  • “Beethoven 7“ live dance concert by Sasha Waltz & Guests live dance concert electrified me in week 41 at
  • “Fantissima“ Germany’s most successful dinner variety show at Phantasialand theme park, truly well-orchestrated performances, song and dance, circus acts…was impressive, delicious, and enjoyable
  • “St. Pauli – Leichen von der Stange“ murder mystery variety show dinner on the Moby Dick riverboat was also a delight, with comedy, dance and song, drama, and even singing along
Films
  • “Wicked” Film: I saw the touring Broadway musical back in Honolulu, enjoyed the showstopping songs and Arianna Grande’s dancing and portrayal of Glinda
  • “KPop Demon Hunters” which was recommended by our neighbors and turned out to be a huge boon with my middle-schoolers, great animation, lots of action with a good message, and real Kpop bangers (below under Listening)
Streaming Series
  • “The Residence” comedy murder mystery miniseries with birdwatching and notebook nerdery, right down my alley!
  • “The Four Seasons” Comedy-drama series with Tina Fey and a bunch of other favorite actors, laughed, cried, were sad there are only 8 episodes
  • “Chief of War“ series with Jason Momoa in Olelo Hawai’i (and English), is a stunningly beautiful (and also violent, as the name would suggest) historical depiction of just before King Kamehameha I, “the Great,” united the islands as one monarchy
  • “Shrinking” series with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford is a Comedy-Drama with relatable and vulnerable characters I came to love
  • “WondLa“ animated fantasy/sci-fi series in English with Ela and in German with my middle schoolers, brought family friendly dystopian action adventure, a strong female lead character Apple Original with an ironically anti-greed anti big tech environmental message
  • “Hacks” Comedy-Drama series “Explores a dark mentorship that forms between Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas comedian, and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old” and I found it funny, fresh, and incisive
  • “Ghosts“ new comedy series was the good laugh we needed to get us through, I especially delighted in the banter between time periods
  • “What We Do In The Shadows” Series mockumentary is funnily afterlife-aligned with another recent favorite, “Ghosts“
  • “Wednesday” Season 2 was a good way to get into the idea of Spooky Season approaching
  • “Nobody Wants This“ comedy series where an agnostic podcaster and a rabbi fall in love
  • Caught the new season of “And Just Like That”
  • Going for it with the OG “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and then
  • “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and I got quite attached to this cast of characters!

My Goals for 2026

My big-picture, long-term goals and dreams haven’t changed this year, but I will be continuing to pursue them in patient, persistent, and strategic ways. I’ve chosen a Word of the Year as well as Twenty 25s for 2025 and will be sharing these intended actions and how I’m tracking and supporting them in the future.

Glad to be on this journey together!

My Fine Feedback workshop at WHDT was a great first offering of this kind

Questions for Reflection

  • How do you reflect on the year past?
  • What goals and intentions do you have for 2026?
  • How can I support you in going after your dreams this year?

Resources for Further Exploration

I’ve got oodles more free resources for you here on the blog, on the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel, on social media and live! The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, here, on social media, online or in-person!

Blog article-wise, here are some others you might find interesting:

Explorations in dance, coaching and more coming soon, thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself, keep moving mindfully, and let me know how if I can be of service. Would love to connect with you in my email newsletter or on social media as well!

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties &
take leaps of faith through coaching, dance & yoga education

Empower International Women’s Day & Women’s History Month with A Blythe Coach

Happy Women’s History Month (March) and International Women’s Day Sunday, March 8th, 2026!

My involvement with causes and special events like this is personally meaningful, and I’m honored to do work that specifically supports girls and women in my community through outreach in schools and association with organizations like Lobby für Mädchen (Lobby for Girls) here in Cologne.

Happy International Women’s Day!

What is IWD?

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.

Give to Gain

The campaign theme for 2026 is “Give to Gain:”

For International Women’s Day 2026 and beyond, let’s Give To Gain for gender equality.
When we give, we gain.
Together, we can help forge gender equality through abundant giving.
The IWD 2026 Give To Gain Campaign encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration.
Give To Gain emphasizes the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organizations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction, it’s intentional multiplication.
When women thrive, we all rise.
Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women’s advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.
We can all challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and seek out positive action.
Collective activism is what drives change. From grassroots action to wide-scale momentum, we can all Give To Gain.
Forging gender parity isn’t limited to women solely fighting the good fight. Allies are incredibly important for the social, economic, cultural, and political advancement of women.
So strike the #GiveToGain pose to show solidarity.
Encourage others to help forge a gender-equal world by sharing your #GiveToGain image and statement across social media using the hashtags #GiveToGain #IWD2026.
Remember, all IWD activity is valid. That’s what makes IWD so inclusive, not exclusive. Collectively, let’s Give To Gain for women and girls everywhere.

Blythe strikes the #GiveToGain pose for #IWD2026 in front of a brick wall

IWD Offerings

In honor of IWD in the past I have given free yoga, ballet, and floor barre classes in-person and online (some also recorded and linked below). Sample classes are still available anytime for those who would like to get a taste of my inclusive, adaptive, and joyful teaching and coaching style, with current teaching schedule at the homepage at ablythecoach.com or message me with your inquiries.

This year I thought deeply about how to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. Unfortunately, I’ve also been sick for most of February and now into March, so this has put a bit of a crimp in my plans.

Essence Conversation

Still, I’d like to offer you one of the most empowering tools I have yet to experience. If you feel like you could use a jumpstart for your springtime, Quarter 2 and Annual aspirations, this is it!

A Power Tool for Living

For 2026 I am offering the Essence Coaching Conversation in honor of IWD and Women’s History Month, a transformational tool I learned from my training with Accomplishment Coaching back in 2008 that has shaped my life in positive and surprising ways ever since.

The foundation for ontological coaching work where we dive deep into your state of Being and design action in alignment, the Essence Conversation can serve as a standalone coaching experience (comprised of an initial 60-minute session and then a shorter follow-up) or become the first of a whole comprehensive toolkit for unlocking your human potential.

You will encounter no obligation whatsoever, just an opportunity to discover your own essential nature and develop concrete steps and strategies to put it into action to create the life and world of your dreams.

Me? In giving this tool I get to gain the fun of supporting you in the unfolding of your greatness!

Sign up for an Essence Conversation at the link here to my Calendly scheduler to tap into your internal power, I can’t wait to reveal your unstoppable Essence to you!

Action All Year Long

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing as well as other exciting campaigns, causes, and creators is to subscribe to my email newsletter. I also post regularly here on the blog, on social media via Instagram, and the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel.

Resources for Further Exploration

Questions for Reflection

  • What tools and practices empower you as a woman or ally?
  • How are you celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month?
  • Where is the growing edge of your current creativity?
  • In what ways can you #GiveToGain for gender equity?

Thank you for celebrating women of all sizes, ages, colors, and stripes with me, in spirit or in fact! Take good care until next time.

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

Every BODY Belongs – Eating Disorder Awareness Week Statement of Hope -NEDAW 2026

Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) is an annual campaign to educate the public about the realities of eating disorders and to provide hope and visibility to individuals and loved ones impacted by eating disorders.

With Black History Month in February, Women’s History Month in March, and International Women’s Day March 8th, it is important to note that women and marginalized communities are particularly adversely affected.

The EDAW campaign resources are all available here, from graphics to screenings

Eating Disorders Awareness Week

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAW) is a national campaign to raise awareness about eating disorders, challenge stigma, and provide hope and support to all those impacted.

In 2026, NEDAW takes place February 23–March 1, with the theme Every BODY Belongs. Eating disorders affect 30 million Americans across all ages, sizes, races, genders, and backgrounds. Too often, people go unseen or unsupported due to stigma, misinformation, and barriers to care. This #NEDAW, we come together to fight for change, commit to change, and remind everyone that every body belongs.

Message of Hope

Every BODY Belongs – Eating Disorders Awareness Week Message of Hope on YouTube

Proud to announce that this is my 4th year as an NEDAW Collaborator!

For 2026, I shared a Message of Hope on my Instagram Feed/Story and my YouTube Channel to amplify encouragement across the community, sharing that:

I have personally witnessed bias, limiting societal ideals, distorted body image, restriction in our society, exacerbated in the high-pressure world of classical ballet.

However, if you have or are recovering from an eating disorder, or know someone who is, there is hope. It is possible to heal, to recover, to reinvent our relationship with our bodies, food and eating at any age!

At 44 I have worked hard and continue to resist diet culture, take morality out of eating, disrupt body policing/surveillance, comparison, negative comments (about self or others), in favor of healing my relationship with food, eating, and my body.

I am committed to doing what I can to continue to improve in my teaching and coaching work, promoting nourishment, sense of self-worth, access to needed treatment, and appreciation for the whole range of human embodiment.

Lots of valuable resources are collected in my article Building a Healthy Relationship with Body & Food.

Let’s come together to fight for change, commit to change, and remind every person impacted by eating disorders that they are not alone because #EveryBODYBelongs.

Some risk factors for eating disorders are genetics, family & personal history

Every Body Belongs

This year’s theme is Every BODY Belongs. Our goal is to create urgency around the need to recognize eating disorders as a public health concern and to push the importance of early detection through screenings, funding research, and accessible treatment and resources because:

  • Every Body Matters
  • Every Body’s Voice Matters
  • Every Body Deserves Compassion
  • Every Body Deserves Treatment
  • Every Body Deserves Support
  • Every Body Deserves Hope
  • Every Body Deserves Change
NEDAW 2026 spread in Blythe’s seasonal Bullet Journal

My Commitment

Myself, I re-commit to body-positivity/neutrality/inclusion and adaptivity in my classes and programs, to rejecting diet culture, fatphobia, and negative body size bias. I will continue to grow in my relationship to food, eating, and body diversity, as it is a lifelong journey!

In ballet and Mindful Movement classes and coaching, in-person and online, I seek to offer an open and accepting perspective and well as referrals and resources as needed. Grateful for NEDA’s toolkits for Educators, Coaches, and Loved Ones.

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person!

“You’re not the problem, it’s the culture of dance that you have grown up in, it’s also society and the world we live in, your body is not the one to blame.”    

– Fumi Somehara, Dietician, “Dancing Body Acceptance“ podcast

Every body deserves the treatment they need!

Questions for Reflection

  • What is your relationship with body, food, eating?
  • Could you or someone you know benefit from an Eating Disorders assessment?
  • Which organizations do you know of who do good work in the area of Eating Disorder education, prevention, and treatment?
  • What resources does my community need and how can I connect them?
  • How can I support you in taking exquisite care of yourself so that you may dance through difficulty?

Look forward to sharing how in March I am taking part in International Women’s Day and invite you to special events for Dance Week, Coaching Week and more coming up soon!

Take good care of yourself until then, thanks for reading, for being, for moving together in spirit or in fact.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst, they/she
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
dance through difficulty
take leaps of faith

DISCLAIMER: A Blythe Coach recommends that you consult your physician regarding the applicability of any recommendations and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise program. When participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself.

Twenty 26s in 2026: Analog Project Planning & Action Tracking, Creative Bullet Journal Style

Having enjoyed the benefits of tracking “Twenty-three 23’s in 2023,” “Twenty-four 24’s in 2024,” and “Twenty 25s in 2025” actions in my Bullet Journal collections, I’m back for more in 2026!

This setup and structure are inspired by Jess, aka JashiiCorrin on YouTube, which I wrote about my in my 2023 Review blog, and it’s become a playful way to gamify my annual objectives! Making my leading metrics for the year concrete and fun helps me take action and track data in order to “move the needle” on my lagging metrics and results that follow.

Arranged according to my 8 major focus areas–Read, Write, Create, Serve, Connect, Practice, Sustain, and Adventure–this way I get a somewhat holistic picture of my intentions and goals for the year. I focus setting intentions, taking specific actions I can take to uphold them, then see what results occur. Then I reflect, recommit or change direction, and carry on creating!

Here’s the spread in my Bullet Journal, with a collection for each item to follow:

Twenty 26s in 2026 BuJo Spread in my Annual Collections Book

20 Actions, 26+ Times

Last year I realized that I don’t intend to increase the number of measured actions annually, which would generate “Twenty-five 25s” and escalate each coming year. Instead it seemed prudent to reduce the number of projects tracked in this way and focus in more. Some actions in my eight focus areas I continue to loosely track, but I discovered evaluating some actions numerically, keeping metrics on everything can take the fun out. For example dates, artist dates, and other such adventures are important to me, but sheer quantity is less important than quality.

That said, it has never been a 100 percent, A plus, perfectionistic game, rather an experiment in awareness, an opportunity to check in regularly with my declared priorities.

This year I’m taking action and being accountable to Twenty 26s.

Some of the activities truly do fall about every two weeks, sufficient for 26 within a year’s time, whereas others are meant to occur weekly or even daily (such as yoga practice, meditation, and language practice). Therefore I arrive at my goal of 26 at a different rate for each type of action and for many I have planned to continue well beyond that.

In fact at the time of this writing, I have already reached at least 26 actions in 8 areas already! Each is something that I value and want to nurture, but the precise frequency that supports me best depends on the action.

In future articles, videos, and posts I’ll share my progress and results, though some metrics I may not share in detail for personal or privacy reasons.

What projects, actions, and measures are important to you will probably be different from my priorities, but I hope this sparks ideas and avenues for your own evolving practice.

Twenty 26s Flip-Through

The video below on YouTube is a flip-through of the initial setup of my 2026 Annual Collections Book so far, including my Twenty 26s in 2026 projects and creative challenges planned as well as my Adventures and Future Log.

Just sharing my own process and preferences, what works for you might very well look very different and most certainly will change over time! Brands and items I mention in the video are just what I have access to and currently use, based on personal experience and opinion. This video is not sponsored (none are so far) and I encourage you to use whatever supplies you have at hand and enjoy.

2026 Annual Book Migration – Twenty 26s & Creative BuJo Project Collections video

If you enjoy this sort of content, check out my 2025 Annual Book, 2024 Annual Book, 2023 Annual Book and reflections, Word of the Year, and I’ll be back soon with more fun with ballet, mindful movement, creativity, and beyond.

My Twenty 26s

These are the twenty actions I chose, grouped into eight thematic areas (with a lot of overlap) and with a couple bonus spreads and plenty more room in my Annual Book to capture further ideas, research, workshops, collaborations…

Read

1. Books

Fiction Novels such as cozy mysteries and rom-coms, Nonfiction, Personal Growth, Scriptures, Poetry, anything goes! Enjoying reading every day, learning from new perspectives, and diving into favorite topics are my main reading goals, so consistency and value is more important than volume.

Subscribers to my email newsletter are privy to what I’m currently reading, top recommendations, and thoughts about current reads. Goodreads also tracks at least my eBook titles, most of which I borrow from the library using the Libby App.

Books Read & TBR

Write

2. Publish Blog Articles

Like this one! I write about dance, mindful movement, creativity, lifelong learning, coaching, and joyful living. I started blogging in order to share my knowledge, provide references for students and clients, and find my voice.

I continue because it has done all of that and also connects me to a community of likeminded people!

Blog Articles Published and To-Be-Written

3. Email Newsletters

The best way to keep in touch across the globe! I love sharing my latest creations and offerings and valuable resources from other creators as well in my email newsletter. It’s important to me these days that I own my email list and website, so am less affected when social media goes down or otherwise behaves badly, and this also assures that you never miss out an anything I create or recommend.

Not yet a subscriber to my Email Newsletter? You can join here and let me know if you ever have questions.

Email Newsletters sent and Poem “Acorns” written

4. Poems

My ongoing log (both analog and digital) of “acorns” or nuggets of poems and songs for possible eventual completion helps keep me in practice and creates a bank of material for future use. Short poems may also come through all at once, like the 365 Haiku I wrote in 2021.

5. Letters

Telling loved ones how I feel, pen palling, keeping in touch through “snail mail.” Historically I have good intentions for regular correspondence, sending timely birthday cards, etc., but establishing the habit of writing and sending the post is still a growing edge. Pleased to continue improving my consistency in this area and it is very rewarding, I’ve been receiving some responses and the personally-addressed envelopes in my mailbox make my whole day!

This is also a splendid opportunity to play with my hobby of fountain pens, inks, and stationery.

Letters sent and To-Be-Written

Create

6. Videos

Ideally I’d like to publish videos at least weekly, and in fact I shared 53 of them in 2025, but 26 is a good minimum. Consistently publishing content on YouTube and for social media develops my body of work, grows my skills, and engages my students and audience. You can view and subscribe to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel here.

Videos published on YouTube and To-Be-Created

7. Choreography

Engaging in movement and artistic research is an ongoing feature of my practice. Like writing acorns or small segments of poems, the daily practice can be small, involving improvising, moving, and brainstorming. In addition to choreography for my classes and larger projects I create other challenges for myself, such as the micro video choreography sketches for the #alphabetsuperset creative challenge that then inspired my Dance Daily December movement advent calendar. All of these become my working drafts – ideas and sequences that may find their way into (or ate least influence and inspire) a video, a class, workshop, collaboration, or other creation.

Create Dance Choreography “Acorns,” Choreographies To-Be-Created

Serve

8. Teach Classes

Ongoing Mindful Movement classes in Ballet, Barre+, Barre a Terre, and Yoga as well as special workshops and master classes are all a part of my professional service as a teaching artist and educator.

9. Coaching Sessions

Coaching clients, offering sample sessions, and supporting people in taking leaps of faith to create the life of their dreams are integral to the professional service that I provide.

Being of service in Dance & Mindful Movement Classes, Coaching Sessions

Practice

10. Bullet Journal (BuJo) Spreads

Got a good start on this as the year turned over and I set up my Annual Book spreads including my Future Log, these Twenty 26s and my Seasonal Book, the Monthly and Weekly spreads I created in my Seasonal Books and other special collections, meeting this goal.

Like journaling content? Some of my spreads can be found on Instagram, in videos (in relation to art and creativity), and in blog articles like this one that relate my personal process.

Practicing German and Music

Connect

11. Social Media

Posting, engaging, sharing resources, behind-the-scenes experiences, connecting with my creative community on Instagram and Facebook several times a week as @ablythecoach

Bonus: Creative Challenges

Participating creative challenges hosted by others, such as Alphabet Superset, NaNoWriMo, Inktober, and more provide motivation, community, and structure in which my artist child can play. Hosting my own creative challenges in the areas of dance, yoga, and coaching, is a fun way to connect and support folks on those journeys.

Connecting through Creative Challenges & Social Media

Sustain

12. Financial Fun & Adulting

Weekly check-ins with accounts, bills, budgeting, balancing books, profit, debt, insurance, investment and adulting also need to be regularly updated. Staying real and being on top of this area eases anxiety and helps me focus on what is important.

Practice (more)

13. German/Deutsch

Duolingo helps me continue to build my vocabulary and correct my grammar alongside practicing in teaching and everyday conversation. Being a daily activity, usually two short sessions mornings and evenings, I completed over 26 sessions by the end of January.

Also related to the adulting topic of maintaining my work visa and other living-abroad to-dos.

Sustainment includes Adulting, Financial Fun, an Empties List, Wish List…

14. Music

Creating music playlists and practicing playing an instrument or singing are also efforts that contribute to my artistic output and inspiration in other areas.

Then I share the musical selections and playlists in dance classes and use them for choreographic impulse, yoga practice, setting the mood for various other activities, and for celebration of life. As with books and reading, I sometimes share my favorite songs, pieces of music, and playlists including those I create myself in my videos, articles, and email newsletter.

I do enjoy including singing, harmonica, percussion, and other musical creative practices that complement my choreography, dance, and movement education. This is one way that I continually develop rhythm and musicality as I wrote about here and expand my potential artistic expression.

15. Yoga

Short or longer daily yoga practices have been one of my most consistent daily habits since 2019, so this year I completed my 26th practice in January. Here is an article where I wrote about Healthy Habit Building, and I also share about yoga on my YouTube Channel and in-person and online teaching.

16. Meditate

As with Yoga, Meditation is a part of my daily ritual of healthy habits. There are so many benefits and I’ll absolutely continue to practice.

Practicing German, living in Germany, practicing Yoga, Meditation, Gratitude, etc.

17. Gratitude & Abundance

In my pocket notebook Captain’s Log, and for several years to build my streak I created entries digitally in the Gratitude App, but now I’m on a roll it is analog-only, and I stop as often as I can to be present to the abundance and beauty I enjoy.

18. Physical Therapy

With a Thera Band, Balance Board, Foam Roller, Ball, Pull-Up Bar and more, I do a lot of cross-training in order to be able to continue actively dancing and teaching mindful movement.

19. Daily Logs

Having my pocket notebook on hand at all times allows me to keep ongoing notes throughout the day, my “Captain’s Log,” based on the sort of rapid logging Ryder Carroll describes in the Bullet Journal Method.

Although this collection does not need its own spread in my Annual Book, I

20. Morning Pages

Starting when I did Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, now I write my freewheeling freehand Pages most weekdays as part of my creative morning ritual.

Bonus: Adventure & Celebration

Adventure for me means everything from trying new experiences, taking romantic or artist’s dates, providing nourishment for my soul and creative process.

Travel, Events, Dates & New Experiences are one of my favorite areas in which to set goals and broaden my horizons, connect with loved ones and meet new connections. Trips home to visit my family and on other getaways are in the works for 2024.

Playfully fueling my creative fire, using my art & craft supplies, journaling, coffeeshops, bookstores, museums and galleries, performance and adventures, park time sketching, bird-watching…pretty much anything that inspires me can qualify as an Artist’s Date! Like that of Morning Pages, this concept comes from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.

Adventure, Travel, To-See

Further Tracking

The Annual Book is also where I record things like a Future Log of coming events, Kan Ban Board of actions to produce content, and other projects that I design and challenges I participate in during the year.

Future Log

The Future Log is an important spread in my Annual Book

What are Your 26s?

If you’ve chosen intentions and objectives or projects for the year, I’d love to hear about them and how it is going! You can start now, or at any time, just by choosing one action you’d like to complete 26 times in the coming period. Build a new habit and see the impact taking one small step (repeatedly) can have!

Questions for Reflection

  • What goals and intentions do you have for 2026, the coming quarter, season and month?
  • What small actions or habits do you practice regularly in alignment with your intended outcomes?
  • How will you reach out to me for support in dancing through your difficulties?

Resources for Further Exploration

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate people dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Pluck Luck in 2026 – Word / Intention of the Year

PLUCK

See luck

Seize chance

Let the rest

Roll off

Fortune’s Duck

Alert,

dodge the muck

Grasp

fruit that hangs

And into it

tuck

Juice from fingers

I’ll suck

Corn at harvest

To shuck

What’s meant mine?

Fill a truck,

Always

Give a f—

– Blythe Stephens, work-in-progress 2026

Pluck ephemera: strut like birds, stretch for the stars (what is pluckier than a Mynah?

Pluck what’s mine

Harvest what’s meant for me, take what opportunities present themselves as I so choose, grab life by the horns, be bold, brave, courageous, have gumption, like a plant reaching for sunlight, a bird diving after it’s target.

These are the sorts of images that moved through my mind as I came upon my Word of the Year, in deep reflection in the liminal period at the end of one cycle and beginning of the next.

As a dancer, the metaphor involves movements of a ready stance, decisive strike or leap, like a pounce with springy rebound. Grabbing, grasping, holding on, with firmness, dedication, resilience, agility. Adventure is in store, and yet I don’t need to go out of my way, the right things will present themselves.

Choosing a guiding word or phrase each year has been a part of my intention-setting process since 2015, thanks to my friend Liz, and I also shared about my 2023 Word, 2024 Word, and 2025 Word and intentions on Instagram, YouTube, and here on the blog.

My Word of the Year of Pluck will fuel my projects, goals, short- and long-term vision.

Purpose, Vision, Mission, Values

Metaphorically boldly plucking generative opportunities meshes to my Purpose of Joy, Essence of Buoyant, Creative, Curious, Love, & Leader, my Mission to inspire, equip, and liberate, Vision to support my community to live extraordinary lives through coaching, dance and mindful movement education, and even my Artist’s Prayer includes the line “give me my daily bread, may I be content.”

We all have many choices and chances available to us this year, but which we are able to take, what we own as ours depends on many factors. None of us is free until we are all free, and my work includes an intersectional commitment to emancipation for all.

Empowering and uplifting myself and others starts within and then moves out into the world.

My role as a Bliss Catalyst is to assist others in navigating their own brave moves, whether they be artistic, athletic, professional, or personal, and I would be honored to support you in moving powerfully through this year!

Present to Plucky Intention

Practicing acting from this intention informs my attitude and choices throughout the year and helps me get oriented again when I get lost in the circumstances of everyday life, derailed by crisis or distraction. Situations from personal dilemmas to international events will occur over the course of a year, so this is a tool to come back to as we navigate the waters of change.

Writing out my word and poem in my Bullet Journal and grounding it in beautiful imagery, verse and rhythm, placing it where I will interact with it daily and be reminded or where I’m coming from in 2026 will provide support for my commitment, provide a solid place for being and making a powerful stand.

Blythe’s word / stand / intention Bullet Journal Spread for 2026: Pluck!

Collage of Pluck

For my opening spread of my 2026 Annual Book, pictured above, I created a collage to represent of my Word of the Year along. Along with my poem-in-progress, it serves as a regularly-seen abstract Vision Board of colors and textures evoking the mood.

This year I’m continuing to take inspiration from flying creatures I love such as birds and butterflies, from air and skies and celestial imagery, stars and the sun, moon and planets, clouds, rainbows, storms, wind and weather patterns, with botanical, floral, fruited, plant imagery as well.

All year, the word and imagery will provide a reminder of what I am up to, and I’ll continue to collect and share resources such as books, essays, poems, quotes, and videos along the way.

Plucky Playlist

2026 Plucky Tunes playlist on YouTube Playlist

The 2026 Plucky Tunes playlist has just begun, with a growing collection of tracks new and old that embody my Word of the Year and the themes of the year as it goes on. I plan to add to it regularly, what would you include?

Connection & Accountability

Will be applying my stand of Pluck and a plucky approach in all of my creations, coaching, and teaching this year. This includes in-person and online workshops, courses in dance and mindful movement, life coaching, topical video creation, articles and other media.

I regularly share playlists, songs, videos, readings, and other juicy resources from myself and other creators in my free email newsletter. It would be wonderful to be in purposeful community with you and I would love to help make your vision for 2026 be real in any way I can.

Questions for Reflection

  • What is your Word(s) of the Year?
  • Which small action(s) will you take today to embody it?
  • What images, quotes, songs, and other resources will inspire you?
  • How will you return to your intention when life inevitably carries you away?

Resources for Further Exploration

May you be plucky and prosperous this year, embodying whatever words of power and purpose you so choose!

My Twenty 26s in 2026 project collections, National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAW) and International Women’s Day collaborations, explorations in dance, coaching and more coming soon.

Take care of yourself, keep moving mindfully, and let me know how if I can be of service. Would love to connect with you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst they/she
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties &
take leaps of faith through coaching, dance & yoga education

December was a Bender of Creation, Celebration & Rest – 2025 Month 12 & Quarter 4 Reflection

December means winter festivity in Cologne, and a whirlwind of activities to complete and celebrate the year!

The last quarter of 2025 and holiday season were particularly full for me even compared to past hectic years, and I worked (danced, taught, published…) hard, then partied hard with my beloved, friends and family. I then collapsed into a short period of lovely rest to reset before returning to my joyful commitments in the New Year.

As evidenced by the publishing of this article in January, my personal completion process continues into the New Year, as I prefer to reflect on the month once it is complete. At the annual shift there are many things to be present to, plan for, and look back upon and I want to set the tone for gentle action and sustainable growth.

With my cousin Blake at a Cologne Christmas Market, basking in holiday family time!

December’s Bender

Amidst a month of festivity, I was also wildly creative, teaching and publishing, enjoying the artistic work and presence of others, recovering from a demanding and exciting period, and beginning the process of reflecting on the past year as a whole, dreaming and planning the next.

  • Dance Daily December is my own interpretation of a Create December type of challenge, where I share daily clips on social media, a kind of movement advent calendar
  • Last Physical Therapy sessions of the year and of this hip pain/injury I dealt with in 2025, learned that my stretching practice needs to increase as my daily physical demands escalate
  • Last Baking projects of the year: muffins, sugar cookies to decorate with the kids, ginger snaps
  • Got sick and well again
  • Last Classes of the year in all locations
  • We celebrated my partner Ela’s Birthday on the Winter Solstice / Yule
  • Advanced Dance Program acknowledgements: my daily ballet students, a professional group of dancers I’ve been so delighted to work with for the 3-month program, brought me flowers and a sweet card signed by all
  • My cousin and his family visited, celebrated Ela’s birthday with us as well as many Christmas Markets
  • Christmas feasting, partying was magical but exhausting
  • Family medical emergencies, from Ela’s aunt breaking her hip on Christmas eve to other beloveds suffering various ailments
  • Rest, recovery, deep reflection, planning
  • Decluttering, cleaning, home organization
  • Fresh Socks & Soap to step into a New Year clean, comfortable, and well-resourced
  • Silvester with neighboring friends: Happy New Year!
December Flip & Favorites – Review, Reflect, Refresh video on YouTube

Bullet Journaling & Planning

The above YouTube Video is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Book including goals, glows, media favorites, and events I recorded along the way.

I shared my initial setup on Instagram here: “Bullet journal has donned its gay apparel and I’m ready for Dance Daily December, #createdecember and much festivity.” A bit of wintry, Christmassy decor was good for my soul.

Continued to update my Monthly, Weekly, and Daily logs, Annual Collections, and especially created my January spreads, started scheming about my 2026 Annual Book spreads.

Got the physical books for my Annual, Spring & Summer Seasonal Books and considered my upcoming Word of the Year, themes and projects, visual design theme.

Also watched a lot of fun videos of folks’ Notebook Lineups and Planner/BuJo Set-Ups for the New Year as well as current pen & ink pairings to inspire correspondence and journaling.

Teaching & Coaching

Regular Mindful Movement classes in Balletlicious Ballet Barre+ and Yummy Gentle Yoga continued throughout, and studio classes in Ballet continued, plus a new project, the Advanced Dance Program, for whom I gave daily Ballet Technique each morning at 9:00, creating amazing results in the 3-month intensive.

There are a couple of coaching slots available in the New Year and I will keep you posted on further offerings as they come together!

Christmas Eve soup course at Petra’s, I absolutely got seconds

Writing & Publishing Articles

I didn’t publish any new articles at ablythcoach.com in December, but was working on reflections like this one and November‘s, as well as upcoming content about my projects and Word of the Year for 2026, personal curriculum and reading, ballet, dance, and creative living…

For Quarter 4, this brings my total articles published to 6, and 35 for the year, not bad!

Filming & Sharing Videos

In Quarter 4 I created and added to the Tasty Technique Tips playlist on YouTube, which will continue to grow as I capture further tricks for developing brilliant dancing.

I published 3 videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel in December on the topics of dance, creativity, and joyful living, for a total of 14 in Q4 and 53 for the year, averaging one every week:

Strong Cylinder Dance Visualization video on YouTube
November Flip & Faves – Review, Reflect, Refresh video on YouTube
Foot Foundations – Golden Triangle Visualization video on YouTube

Connecting: Email & Social Media

Email Newsletter

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as work from others that I believe to be of value for fellow creatives is to subscribe to my email newsletter.

I sent one Email Newsletter in December, Happy Holidays, may the season bring celebration, dance, peace!, totaling 3 in Q4 and 38 in 2025.

Socials

In December I also posted 26 times to Instagram, every day during my #dancedailydecember “movement advent calendar” and a couple further entries. That makes 57 posts to IG in Q4, and 125 total for the year.

It is my honor to be connected to you there, here, on social media, online and in-person!

Cologne Christmas markets are indeed pretty, here with cousins and Ela

Creative Challenges

Dance Daily December is a creative challenge that I created in 2024, while other artists worked on Create December, Vlogmas, Inkvent, and other wintery artistic undertakings, this is a movement-themed playful project.

This in addition to writing in my journals, playing with my new fountain pens, publishing articles, creating improvisations and choreography, video filming and editing.

Dance Daily December

I took on the personal challenge to dance every day in December up until Christmas, a mindful movement advent calendar, and invited others to join in, too!

A few favorite clips:

Dance Daily December spread in my Bullet Journal

Twenty 25s in 2025

Inspired by Jess/JashiiCorrin on YouTube), this creative challenge is a playful way to track various leading metrics, projects and activities I wish to keep an eye on.

Having found such a structure useful since 2023, for 2025 I am reduced the number of categories tracked to 20, and raised the actions by one for a catchy “Twenty 25s in 2025.” In December I continued to take action towards my 25s goals, and final results and reflections will be in my my article reflecting on the year as a whole to come…

Strawberry rose and gold dessert

Media Musings

My December in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:

Books & Reading

The month of December was so full that I didn’t have many opportunities to read (or watch films or series), but I continued small daily selections from current fiction and nonfiction picks.

Books

Still reading along on my nonfiction picks (poetry, scripture, self-help), and I completed one novel in December:

Poetry

Listening Highlights

Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.

Music: Songs, Playlists & Albums

Viewing Highlights

Films

Movies watched last month:

Series

Series streamed in December:

  • Emmy-winning “The Great” satirical comedy historical fiction series about Russia then is relevant now
  • We are back for more of the “H​​acks” Comedy-Drama series
I’m lucky I’ve got my love to keep me warm!

Questions for Reflection

  • What do you want to remember from December/the past month, quarter, and year?
  • Which books, musical selections, and viewing do you currently recommend?
  • Where will you shine your light in the New Year?
  • What are your favorite winter treats?

Resources for Further Exploration

My final recap of 2025, 2026 Word of the Year, Twenty 26s, explorations in dance, coaching, further adventures in creative living and more coming soon.

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst they/she
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
dancing through difficulty
taking leaps of faith

Notebook & Supply Lineup – Analog Journaling System for Reflection, Memory, Planning & Creativity

The currently trending lingo the kids are using on YouTube and elsewhere online is a “Journal Ecosystem” and while that’s a cute name, it personally peeves me just a bit since every system is does not work together symbiotically as a true ecosystem does.

Still, the concept of relying on analog tools, paper first, for planning, writing, organizing thoughts and projects is absolutely down my alley.

For years creators have used the term “Techo Kaigi” or planner meeting in Japanese, to describe this reflection on current notebooks in use, as well as the journals and creative supplies that go along with them to form a cohesive method.

Though my main squeeze is dance, if you’ve been around you know that writing, poetry, collage, photography, music and other creative media are very much at play and in recent years I’ve caught the fountain pen & inks bug, too.

Whatever term you use, if you want to be more creative, organized, and effective, then developing such a system for yourself could help unlock the next level of your practice.

My ManufacTica journal cover is a trusted companion, protecting notebooks since 2022

Learning & Teaching

I’ve been writing (daily-ish) Morning Pages for a few years since going through _The Artist’s Way_ by Julia Cameron, I use a version of _The BuJo Method_ by Ryder Carroll, and have applied concepts from James Clear’s _Atomic Habits_ to help those practices stick, and these continue to form a foundation for my current journaling practice.

Being inherently flexible, my system continually evolves to suit my needs well as other tools I learn along the way, such as Tiago Forte’s _Building a Second Brain_. I’m not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned, they are just what I happen to enjoy and currently be using.

Creative Notebook System

In the videos, articles, and playlist below can be seen the real-time evolution of my journaling and notebook system. Depending on my posts, projects, inspirations, it is an ongoing process of adaptation, growth, experimentation and play!

Creative Materials Playlist

Creative Materials – A Blythe Coach’s Favorite Supplies Playlist on YouTube

Teaching Artist Notebooks & Journals

The core books of my note-keeping, journaling and planning are:

  • Daily Field Notes/Pocket Rapid Logging BuJo: small pocket notebook (Moleskine Cahier or similar) with leather cover from Liebhardt (gift from my gf coming up on 7 years ago!), this is what I actually have with me almost all the time to capture inspirations, nuggets of ideas and poetry, memories, gratitude, tasks, etc.
  • Annual & Seasonal Books BuJo A5 dot grid notebooks (previously Moleskine Cahiers, now Rhodia Rhodiarama softcover notebooks due to their fountain pen & ink-friendliness), inside ManufacTica saddle leather traveler’s notebook-style cover handmade in Germany, contain everything to do with my current classes, workshops, projects
  • Morning Pages: college block, composition book, looseleaf, or scrap paper
  • Current Tools Binder: teaching tools, illustrations, visualization, daily attendance and course lists
  • Signature Program Binder: coaching tools, resources, inspiration, client notes, etc.
  • Honorable mentions: Dry Erase Board for capturing big ideas, mind-maps, and lists, Evernote for habit reminders, digital project management and archiving and digital, Google Docs for word processing

This has emerged as a pillar of my content, so I created a YouTube playlist to provide a home base where updates and archives of my journaling, notebooks, pens, inks, and creative process can gather. Here is where you may find past, current, and future sharing around the materials I use the most:

2025 Books & 2026 Plan

I recently filmed a video with all of the books I was working in last year and proposed lineup for the next year:

Creative Notebook System 2025 into 2026 – Techo Kaigi – Journals video on YouTube

Reviews & Reflections Playlist

For further behind-the-scenes insights into how I use my books and my reflective process, I have been recording monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews which involve a flip-through of the period in my books, favored materials, glows and grows. These regular reflections too have their own playlist, which will continue to be updated:

Regular Reviews & Reflections – Monthly, Quarterly, Annual playlist on YouTube

Resources for Further Exploration

Questions for Reflection

  • What notebooks (or idea-capture devices) do you have in current use? For what purposes do you use each?
  • Which refinements in your system or supplies are you applying for this season?
  • What are your plans for the coming year? 5? 10?
  • How do you stay present to and keep track of your values, priorities, and quests?

Glad you joined me for this nerdy voyage through my current and historical notetaking, journaling, and productivity system.  

Now is a great time to align our resources and systems that we need around us, to dream and plan, reflect on our processes and results from the year so far, goals for the year ahead, and what we want to take up going forward.

Thanks for reading and making together in spirit or in fact, take good care of yourself.

I’ll soon be sharing more about my personal curriculum, creative living, mindful movement (dance, yoga) and coaching, see you again next time!

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

A November to Remember – 2025 Month 11 Reflection

The month of November in my life was about gratitude, harvest, and bittersweet endings, dancing & prolific creativity!

Last of the colorful leaves falling from the trees, the Beaver Moon, Transgender Day of Remembrance, American Thanksgiving.

In this article I wrap up the month of November of 2025 in my projects, life and events.

November Flip & Faves – Review, Reflect, Refresh – Creative BuJo video on YouTube

What do you do to reflect, review, and refresh?

Remember November

…for the highlights it brought to my life, including:

  • Served as a Teaching Artist in 4 locations and age groups from Pre-Ballet to Preprofessional adult training and coaching well-being in between)
  • Fall baking continued and I made many muffins
  • Got out my flannel sheets and pajamas, wool sweaters, thermal everything
  • Autumn leaves dazzled and started to disappear, got interested in the kinds of trees in my neighborhood and throughout the city and discovered a website to help get to know nearly all the trees of Cologne! So far have identified Sycamore, Oaks, Maples, and Sweet Locust…
  • First (brief in Cologne) SNOW of the season!
  • Physical Therapy for my hip issue was reduced pain and increase range of motion so I can keep dancing and teaching
  • Scooter commuting on The Black Pearl was fast, convenient, noticeably improved my strength & balance, and great fun!
Sweet Locust tree on Neusser Strasse in Cologne, Germany, the last there to turn

Creative Challenges

My creative process ranged from work as a Teaching Artist, Choreographer, Movement Educator & Coach, priority projects, many of which are part of my Twenty 25s, actions/habit/leading metric statistics of steps within my control.

Bullet Journaling & Planning

I shared my initial monthly setup in my Seasonal Book on Instagram here with autumn leaves and colors, squirrels, hedgehogs and beavers as a decorative theme. The flip-through video above shows what happened with my goals, glows, media favorites, and events “after the pen.”

Updated my Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Logs, Annual Collections, and set up my December spreads over the course of the month, continued to savor writing my Morning Pages and notes with colorful inks in my fountain pens and cherished the shades of the changing season in nature and culture.

Teaching & Coaching

Regular Mindful Movement classes in Balletlicious Ballet Barre+ and Yummy Gentle Yoga, studio classes in Ballet and “Feel Good” well-being elective courses and daily Ballet Technique for the Advanced Dance Program continued. Stunning, challenging, and inspiring lineup of locations and passionate participants!

Quarter 4 so far
Quarter 4 so far in Blythe’s seasonal Bullet Journal

Writing & Publishing

Articles

In November I published 2 articles to the blog here at ablythecoach.com, bringing my annual total to 34. This is a great place to find out what I am up as well as other experts and creators who I recommend in long and short-form writing.

November’s new articles:

Poems

Kept up my practice of capturing poem “acorns,” lines and snippets, also finished a first draft of a new piece, “Sweet Locust:”

New “Sweet Locust” poem which I also shared on Instagram

Filming & Sharing Videos

In November I began a new video series, Tasty Technique Tips, which find their home in their own YouTube Playlist for easy reference. I published 6 videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel on the topics of dance, creativity, and creative living:

Autumn Migration – Notebook Switch & Mood Music, Change in Seasons video on YouTube
  • Autumn Migration – Notebook Switch & Mood Music for the Change in Seasons video: my October and Quarter 4 plan-with-me continued! Having set-up the rough outline of spreads for the month & quarter in my new seasonal BuJo in my previous video, now I’m sharing further decoration and how I migrate information from one book to the next and flesh out my plans. This is just my process at this point in time and not necessarily a recommendation to others.  No items have been sponsored or gifted by brands, but a few things were given to me as presents from loved ones.
Fall 2025 Currently Inked Fountain Pens, Notebooks & Paper video on YouTube
  • Fall 2025 Currently Inked Fountain Pens, Notebooks & Paper for Journaling, Planning & Creating, a very chatty and writing-utensil nerdy three-quarters of an hour of writing with and talking about my much-loved and heavily-used lineup of stationery for Fall 2025. How did I come to have 16 fountain pens inked up and a couple waiting in the wings? What is this pen and ink hobby I’ve become obsessed with? I’ll answer these questions and more, and revel in the loveliness of these tools in this video, which would provide a fitting accompaniment to your own ink and stationery play, writing, crafting, or chores.
How to find a “Neutral” Pelvis? Dance Pelvic Alignment Primer video on YouTube
  • How to find a “Neutral” Pelvis? Exploring Anatomy for Dance Pelvic Alignment Primer – ASIS, PSIS video: In ballet and dance technique alignment, we refer to major landmarks in the body, such as organizing the parts around our center of gravity, lengthening the spine, distributing the weight in the feet, and leveling the pelvis to stack it, the ribcage, the head vertically over our base of support. This helps provide stability and mobility for great control and freedom of movement. But what does a level or “neutral’ pelvis look like, how does it work, how can we check our own dynamic alignment to help us balance and create healthy, sustainable movement? Here I share some anatomy basics for movers, landmarks to look for such as the palpable ASIS (Anterior Superior Iliac Spine) and PSIS (Posterior Superior Iliac Spine), and visuals to support proper pelvic placement. See the difference it makes for your technique and artistry!
October BuJo Flip & Reflection – Creative Journal video on YouTube
  • October BuJo Flip & Reflection – Creative Journal of a Bliss Catalyst Dancer Coach video: October was action-packed and suspenseful, spooky and cozy and autumnal and full of dancing and prolific creativity! This is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Bullet Journal Book, media I published & personally consumed, high & lowlights and special events, favorites, creative and personal care empties (a la Project Pan, Underconsumption Core/Intentional Consumption, Minimalism & Mindfulness).
10 Years of Dance Notebooks – Flip Through Journals of Choreography video on YouTube
  • Over 10 Years of Dance Notebooks – Flip Through Teaching Artist’s Journals of Choreography & Records video: This is a quick, mostly-chronological flip-through of more than a decade in my dance-related notebooks, comprised of over 8 volumes of words, diagrams, things I wished to remember and refer to in my moving life. My enthusiasm for analog notetaking and record-keeping is evident, and the curious might wonder what it actually looks like to manage a busy dancing life in this way. Beautiful, messy, barely-organized chaos! These books span from about 2010/11 to 2023/4 so cover well over a decade of my handwritten record-keeping of dance study, teaching, choreography, goals and projects, tracking, brainstorming and creativity. In them, I dance and teach in Portland, Oregon, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Poitiers and Paris, France, and Cologne, Germany.
Egg Beaters Turn Out – Hip Rotation – Tasty Dance Technique Tips video on YouTube
  • Egg Beaters Turn Out – Hip Rotation Visualization – Balletlicious Tasty Dance Technique Tips video: Most folks starting a class know that the basic Classical Ballet Positions of the Feet (1st-5th) are performed turned-out such that the toes face to the sides rather than forwards in a parallel forward-facing orientation. But how do we produce and hold such positions and what is it good for? In this video I use the analogy and visualization of the Egg Beaters to demonstrate equal and opposite rotation of the legs at the hip joint and spiraling down through the legs from the deep muscles of the core and hip as well as all the supporting structures. This can help foster efficient activation and alignment for greater stability and range of motion for ballet and other dance and movement forms.
Autumn Cafe scene, leaves outside, waffel, cappuccino, notebook and pens inside

Connecting: Email & Social Media

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as work from others that I believe to be of value for fellow creatives is to subscribe to my email newsletter. It lights me up to see new subscribers there as well as responses to me missives.

I sent one Email Newsletter in November, taking a temporary pause from weekly letters during this busy season with the blessing of my readers:

In addition, I posted 15 times to Instagram over the course of the month.

Started Tasty Technique Tips video series on YouTube, screenshot from Neutral Pelvis

Media Musings

My November in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:

Reading

Books
  • Finished 365 Poems for Life: An Uplifting Collection for Every Day of the Year compiled by Allie Esiri which I began last Fall, has been an inspiring daily companion for the duration!
  • Started Everyday Shakespeare: Lines for Life compiled by Ben Crystal and David Crystal as my new daily poetry reading
  • The Guncle by Steven Rowley I will unfortunately have to complete another time, as I had almost finished the ebook before the library due date, but not quite! Have placed a hold and will eventually get to read the end…
  • Odd Spirits book by S.T. Gibson, a prequel to Evocation which I rad earlier in the year, enjoy the characters if the writing style is not my favorite

Listening Highlights

Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.

Playlists, Songs & Music
Fall Mushroom in the neighborhood in Cologne, Germany

Monthly Viewing Highlights

Saw a wide variety of media in October, including different genres, styles, and appropriate ages:

Live

I was fortunate to enjoy two live performances in November:

  • “Fantissima,” Germany’s most successful dinner variety show at Phantasialand, truly well-orchestrated performances, song and dance, circus acts…was impressive, delicious, and enjoyable
  • “St. Pauli – Leichen von der Stange“ on the Moby Dick Krimidinner murder mystery variety show on a riverboat was also a delight, with comedy, dance and song, drama, and even singing along
Film
  • Saw “Honey Don’t!” in the theater with a friend, found it to have great dialogue, a “2025 neo-noir dark comedy film directed by Ethan Coen, who co-wrote the screenplay with his wife Tricia Cooke.”
  • “Lisa Frankenstein” Film was strange, campy, fit the post-Halloween mood
Series

Standout series in a few different genres:

  • “Shrinking” series with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford is a Comedy-Drama with relatable and vulnerable characters I came to love
  • “WondLa“ animated fantasy/sci-fi series with Ela and then my middle schoolers, it brought family friendly action adventure and a strong female lead character
  • “Boots” Comedy-Drama Series about a young gay man’s experience of boot camp for the US Marine Corps
Dance notebooks are always on my creative menu

Questions for Reflection

  • On what will you feast in November/last month?
  • Which books are on your TBR?
  • When I say Mood Music, which tracks come to mind?
  • What are you creating, planning, practicing, enjoying?
  • Which challenges you’re currently facing could use some help?

Resources for Further Exploration

Thank you for reading, for being, and for dancing with me, in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

Over a Decade of Dance Notebooks – A Teaching Artist’s Journals of Class, Rehearsal, Performance

A question I frequently hear is how have I managed to teach and dance all over the place?

One important tool is my analog notebooks, accessible regardless of electrical power or internet connection, collecting what I wish to remember reliably.

Often espousing the benefits of handwritten note-taking, in the video below I flip through over ten years of my own such Dance Notebooks for the curious to peek inside and for me to glean themes, learning, and growth through reflection over time.

October cover page in Blythe's Bullet Journal
October cover page in Blythe’s current seasonal Bullet Journal

Teaching Artist Notes

These books span from about 2010/11 to 2023/4 so cover well over a decade of my handwritten record-keeping of dance study, teaching, choreography, goals and projects, tracking, brainstorming and creativity. In them, I dance and teach in Portland, Oregon, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Poitiers and Paris, France, and Cologne, Germany:

10 Years of Dance Notebooks – Flip Through Teaching Artist Journals video on YouTube

In the video above, I flip through my own notes and scribbles.

Dance Topics Tracked

What did I capture?

Everything I want to remember and reference, words, sketches and diagrams, my own ideas and creations and those of others:

  • Teaching logs of hours for invoicing, credentialing, and memory,
  • Syllabi and Lesson Plans for Ballet, Modern Dance, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap…tracking the “what” of concepts, steps and combinations covered as well as the “how” it went, our results and what’s next
  • Work in Studios, Schools, as an Adjunct Professor, guest teaching, directing shows
  • Notes on various books, essays, texts and live study of dance techniques (Ballet Schools, Okinawan Dance, Hula, Taiko Drumming…), master classes, workshops,
  • My MFA and secondary Teaching Credential in Dance
  • Choreography notes on my creations and learning others’ works, collaborations,
  • Music listening, songs & compositions, playlists,
  • Creative and educational themes, dance ideas, fairytales and stories,
  • Feedback, praise, reflections
  • Brainstorming, goal-setting, visioning
  • Learning to teach online, YouTube, Zoom, blogging, podcasting, social media…
  • and more!
Blythe’s leather cover from Manifactika houses their current Bullet Journal system

Threading Tactic

Although all are connected through the theme of dance creation and education, you can see that there are too many disciplines, locations, and ideas to break them out into separate books.

Thus Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method, especially the concept of “threading” where various subtopics and contexts can interweave, has been of value in my practice. Each spread contains one subject, tabbing and color coding helps keep them distinct and easily-accessible on a daily and weekly basis, and then when I run out of space on one page, the thread gets picked up later in the book. Indexing and then digital backup of especially valuable references further aid future retrieval of information.

Resources for Further Exploration

Questions for Reflection

  • What kinds of notes do you take?
  • What do want to remember and refer back to?
  • How does writing contribute to your artistic process?
  • What are you creating?

Let me know what works for your own dance, creative, and educational process! Thanks for reading and practicing together in spirit or in fact!

Take care of yourself and keep moving mindfully, let me know how if I can be of service, would love to see you in my email newsletter or on social media as well.

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

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