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.
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!
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!
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:
- October Oohs & Aahs – 2025 Month 10 Reflection: the month was action-packed & suspenseful, spooky & cozy, autumnal & full of dancing & prolific creativity! October is LGBTQ+ History Month and many creatives I know celebrate “Art-tober” or Inktober or such challenges to spark their art, along with seeing the Hunter Moon, World Mental Health Day, National Coming Out Day, Pronouns Day, and Halloween. In this article I wrapped up the month in my projects, life and events.
- Over a Decade of Dance Notebooks – A Teaching Artist’s Journals of Class, Rehearsal, Performance: Often espousing the benefits of handwritten note-taking, in this article and video 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.
Poems
Kept up my practice of capturing poem “acorns,” lines and snippets, also finished a first draft of a new piece, “Sweet Locust:”
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 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 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? 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 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).
- 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 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.
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.
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
- Send Me Sighing – Bluesy Autumnal Jazz playlist on YouTube and
- Harvest & Thanksgiving Songs playlist on YouTube to give all the Fall Feels
- “Love Letters” song by ODESZA (feat. the Knocks)
- “Soleil Bleu” song by is all over our radio
- “Lass mich gehen” song by Ayliva
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
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
- Float in 2025 – Word / Intention of the Year Article
- Twenty 25s in 2025: Analog Project Planning & Action Tracking, Creative Bullet Journal Style Article
- Say the Magic Words Article
- Analog Journals for Creativity Article
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