2024
quantum leaps in store
into creativity
joy + love galore!
That’s the poem I shared when I declared my Word of the Year and practices to make it so. Now how did it go?
Negativity bias is real, and I well remember the challenges and struggles I faced last year. Thankfully, I take fuller and more objective stock of my declarations and results for the year as well as the events, highlights and accomplishments I have recorded along the way.
In the end, I saw growth all over and for that I am very grateful!
Leap Year
It was indeed a Leap Year, and that extra day in February, plus a powerful intention-setting and planning process and aligned daily habits created quantum leaps in many areas of my and my clients and students’ lives.
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 Review blogs as well, which has helped with Quarterly and 6-Month check-ins and now my annual retrospective.
It can be overwhelming to distill down to what’s most important among all of the highlights, lowlights, memories, milestones, challenges, and lessons from a whole year’s experiences. In the process I looked back at daily logs, my BuJo, photos, music, books, viewing, creative challenges, teaching, coaching, finances, adulting, travel, hobbies, personal and family life, choreography, world events and politics, published articles, videos, emails… and am moved by all that took place!
As I’ve noted in previous years, it takes me a while to complete such a reflection process, but I appreciate being able to take the time to look back, be present to my response to my actions and results, and inform my approach going forward.
Here I’m reviewing my goals and intentions, highlights and lowlights, joys and lessons of 2024 in order to move powerfully into 2025.
Key 2024 Themes for Me
Theme 1: Family & Friends
We were so fortunate to spend special times with friends and family this year, mine and Ela’s. Incredibly grateful to be able to travel to be with my parents, aunties, and cousins, and that a couple of my cousins could come to Europe again, meeting us in Amsterdam for a summer getaway.
One of my best friends who was a reason why I visited and then moved to Germany visited with her daughter and my Mom’s cousin also swung by on a Rhine River tour. Ela had her first visit to California (San Diego) along with our Hawai’i trip, we attended her sister’s wedding here in Cologne over the summer, got away for a weekend with friends to see the fall colors, and we also made it a priority to watch our little nephew grow and play.
Theme 2: Creative Chosen Challenges
Hosting and participating in challenges and workshops was a highlight again in 2024, such as Self-Care September, completing my Alphabet Superset Challenge, and more below under “Creative Challenges” and “Twenty-Four 24s in 2024.”
Theme 3: Adventures, Arts & Culture
I was blessed with a wealth of special concerts, performances, galleries and museums, travel adventures, new sports and more! Many are below under “Glows,” “Marvelous Media.”
2024 Intentions & Outcomes
- Life: Make Quantum Leaps (spiritually, creatively), help others do likewise, Connect, Share Love, Adventure, Travel, Celebrate, continue Rituals and Habits. Yes I DID take Quantum Leaps and helped students and clients to do the same! I was blessed with rich cultural experiences, travel, and adventure.
- Growth: my YouTube Channel didn’t quite reach my 1,000 subscriber goal, but did end 2024 with 856 subscribers, up from 495 in 2023! I have seen growth in enrollment as well, increased the number and type of my offerings and continued to write, create, and share, proud of my efforts overall.
- Revenue: I personally do not share financial details here in these articles, but like my other stated goals, I saw distinct growth. 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.
I vent it all, then see what trends and themes I can suss out.
Glows: Highlights & 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:
- Maintaining daily Yoga, Meditation, Reading, Writing, Gratitude + Abundance, German practices, weekly Physical Therapy, Improvisation, Artist’s Dates, Monthly Reflections, and Creative Outputs
- Still so in love and celebrated my 6th Anniversary with Ela and we started learning a new dance style together: TANGO!
- Trip Home to Kailua-Kona, Emceed again for West Hawai’i Dance Theatre’s “Giselle” Ballet there, practiced Tai Chi by the sea, had quality time with my parents
- Getaways to Amsterdam with my cousins in June and Mendig with friends in October
- Classes and offerings growing, teaching and coaching new techniques, locations, and demographics
- My ballet students successfully completed their Royal Academy of Dancing-based examinations with Tanzschule Tanzraum
- Participated in challenges new and old: Camp NaNoWriMo/Memoir, Self-Care September, finished my Alphabet Superset creative challenge (more below)
- Adulting: admitted to the Kunstler Sozialkasse (artist’s guild) and Techniker Krankenkasse (health insurance) in Germany, so enjoyed voting for Kamala Harris
- Arts & Culture – treated to live performances including “Twelve Ton Rose” by Trisha Brown performed by Ballet de Lorraine, the classical ballet “Giselle” performed by West Hawai’i Dance Theatre, The Trocks, music concerts and art gallery opening (see below under “Marvelous Media”).
- Sports – went to our first pro Hockey game in January, practiced Tai Chi by the sea in Kona, watched Sumo Championships, Women’s World Cup finals, Eddie Aikau surf competition, and some of the Paris Olympics, most notably the opening entertainments
- Had a blast picking up a new creative hobby in Fountain Pens and Inks and reviving an old one, birdwatching: Best Birding Apps in 2024
Grows: Lowlights, Loss & Lessons
- Wars, dictators and billionaires (and aspiring) – civil inequality shaking our world, causing refugee to flee and trauma. Save the children, call for a ceasefire, peace on earth.
- Disastrous US Presidential Election – politics is not my major focus, but I know that a criminal in office, and another term of Cheetolini, will have far-reaching negative effects for Americans and worldwide.
- Family health stress – multiple family members were treated for various conditions in 2024–Dad’s Aortic Aneurysm and various infections, Mom’s knee, Auntie’s cancer–and it was dreadful to wait for those surgeries and their outcomes. I am grateful that as of now, things went as well as could be hoped.
- Tricky times with students of various ages and demographics and witnessed incidents in public around racism, politics, diversity and inclusion, acceptance and tolerance.
Creative Challenges
In 2024 I both hosted and participated in a variety of stimulating creative challenges, such as:
- Twenty-Four 24s in 2024 – This was the organizing structure of BuJo Collections & Projects and I updated the trackers throughout the year, noting when I completed each “24.” See below for the details of each…
- Jahresrückblog Annual Review Article & Monthly Reviews
- 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 Review blogs as well, which has then helped with Quarterly and 6-Month check-ins, and now my annual retrospective. It can be overwhelming to distill down to what’s most important all of the highlights, lowlights, memories, milestones, challenges lessons from a whole year’s experiences in daily logs, my BuJo, photos, music, books, viewing, creative challenges, teaching coaching, finance, adulting, travel, hobbies, personal and family life, choreography, world events and politics, published articles, videos, emails…but looking at the main themes and projects monthly made it all feel more manageable.
- Subsequently Publishing Monthly Review Blogs (12)
- Alphabet Superset (continued from 2023, completed in 2024)
- Yoga Visibility Challenge in January with Susanna Barkataki
- Depth Year: 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
- Proud to have been an Eating Disorders Awareness Week Collaborator in February
- International Women’s Day March 8th
- 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.
- 29.4 International Dance Day https://www.international-dance-day.org/In 1982 the Dance Committee of ITI founded International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29th April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), creator of modern ballet. The intention of the International Dance Day Message is to celebrate dance, revel in the universality of this art form, cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers, and bring people together with a common language
- June: PRIDE
- July: Non-binary People’s Day
- Self-Care September
- Dance Daily December – 31 Days of Mindful Movement to Change Your Life
Publishing Articles
Among the articles I published in 2024 were monthly reflections (see above regarding the Annual Reflection/Jahresrueckblick Challenge with Judith Peters), as well as blogs on the topics of dance and creative living. Monthly Reflections:
- January was for Tango, Snow, Art & Completion
- February was for Love, Eating Disorder Awareness, Dancing Up a Storm
- March was for Mindfulness, Women’s History Month, Moving Around, Quarter 1 Wrap-Up
- April was about Celebrating Spring, Dance Week, Travel Preparations & California Dreaming
- Memories of a May Made of Adventures in California, Home in Hawai’i, dancing through jetlag back to Germany
- Juicy June & Quarter Two Flew, Q2 & First-Half Review
- Jolly July
- An August Month
- A Sensational September & Season, Q3 Review
- Boo October is Through
- November was for Being Grateful & Grieving
- December Engendered Completion & Celebration
3 Favorite Articles
The creative challenges I took on also led to a few of my favorite blog articles that I published in 2024:
Alphabet Superset Recap
Dance Daily December Recap
Happy PRIDE Month! Celebrating Diversity, Identity & Justice
Twenty-Four 24s in 2024
In service to my overarching long-term goals, I had announced twenty-four 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 in 2023. For each of the twenty-four chosen actions for 2024, I meant to make at least 24 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-Four 24s in 2024 in this blog article.
I met or exceeded 18 of my 24 announced targets, not bad!
Here are the practices I did at least 24 times:
- Books Read – I actually enjoyed reading 26 books and I’m very happy with this. My goal for reading is not maximum consumption, but maximum appreciation of the benefits of reading books and a balance of pleasure and growth. Diversity in topics and genres as well as turning to reading material that is just for the fun of it. See below under “Marvelous Media” for my favorite reads of the year!
- Daily Logs Written – 366 entries
- Morning Pages – 189 entries
- Write Articles – 30 blog articles published here on ablythecoach.com, much better than the previous year! Not yet weekly, but improving formatting and overall quality as well as number of times I published
- Send Email Newsletters – 43, 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.
- Poems – 24
- Letters – 24
- Videos Published – 44 new videos shared to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel, especially proud of my work here!
- Choreography – 46 sketches/segments, very much supported by participating in Alphabet Superset and creating Dance Daily December (above).
- Bullet Journal Spreads – at least 24, including annual collections, monthly and weekly spreads, and quarterly reflections, plus special events and trips
- Practice Yoga – as this is meant to be a daily ritual, I reached my 24th practice in January, and 292 practice sessions total, “good” in my good-better-best metric
- Meditate – another daily ritual, 312 sessions total
- Gratitude & Abundance – all 366 days
- Deutsch – all 366 days
- Physical Therapy – about twice weekly, 52+ sessions
- Classes Taught – 462 including online & in-studio!
- Social Media Posts – 154 Instagram posts
- Financial Fun – weekly, about 52 times balancing books & budgeting
Sharing Videos
I posted 44 new videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel, reached 856 subscribers, and marked 5 years of publishing free content there!
Connection, Email & Social Media
I sent 43 approximately-weekly Email Newsletters in 2024, full of value-packed resources for fellow creatives. Some months I was particularly active on Instagram and Facebook, or even TikTok while posting my Alphabet Superset and Dance Daily December videos. Also posted about a few major events that I felt it was important to speak up about, including Nonbinary People’s Day/Week.
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 to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter.
Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person!
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
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World Memoir/Nonfiction book by Christian Cooper I bought as a supportive resource for my 2024 theme and savored it along the way. Interesting life story, entertaining style and format, and powerful social and personal messages!
Poetry Collections
- Rumi: New Translation of Selected Works by Rumi and Farrukh Dhondy was my daily poetry reading until I completed the book, then I started on
- Rilke: Gesammelte Werke by Rilke auf Deutsch (collected works in German) poem daily since I completed the Rumi poems
- I finished my fall-y daily reading odyssey, A Toast to Autumn: A Collection of Cozy Fall And Halloween Poems, Poetry for Good Vibes During the Season by Alexis Jean and find that taken singly the poems are cute and there are a few gems, but I don’t recommend reading a poem each day in fall as I did, this was much too repetitive, the author being very committed to rhyme scheme and specific imagery. Still will probably recommend and return to certain goodies for the mood.
- Purchased a new anthology to take me through 2025, 365 Poems for Life: An Uplifting Collection for Every Day of the Year compiled by Allie Esiri and was immediately touched and inspired!
Poems
- “Home” poem by Rumi
- “Fly” poem by Rumi
- “White Eyes” poem by Mary Oliver (included with Moon Medicine Yoga Slow Flow)
Novels & Series
- The Guest: A Novel by Emma Cline was a wild, off-the-rails, and well-written way to kick off the year in reading! Warning: very adult and potentially triggering content – Alex does drugs and has sex the whole time. Great slow-build suspense, observations on people, personalities, a slice of society.
- Good Material: A novel by Dolly Alderton, which is about the humor and madness and The Madness of going through a breakup, well-written and bittersweet but not so light. Told from the perspective of a troubled comedian for most of the story, then an interesting perspective shift as well.
- The Maid: A Novel (Molly the Maid Book 1) by Nita Prose was an excellent book recommendation for me, an unusual murder mystery, and I look forward to what is to come from this author!
- Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston was a cute alternate-reality political gay romance and fun to read together with my sweetie (we also read another book of theirs last year, One Last Stop), after which we viewed the 2023 film version with a critical eye, and then uncarley’s commentary, also humorous
- Sandwich by Catherine Newman is one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year, a story about three generations spending a summer week in a cabin on the cape and also about the beautiful, grotesque, transcendent, profane, hilarious tragedy of life, with a menopausal main character.
- Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation & The True Love Experiment sequel, and other Rom-Com novels such as In a Holidaze, went on to binge this new-to-me writing duo’s works in the order they became available as eBooks from my library through Libby.
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley: “To Flavia the investigation is the stuff of full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections.” Having read a later book in the series first by accident, I was glad to go back to the beginning to read the rest of this fun precocious pre-teen whodunnit in order.
- The Summer Place: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
- Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan was the 24th book I completed in 2024 and I loved it! Rom-Com, so funny but also so tender and crushing, wonderful characters, family and friend relationships in addition to the romance. Not wanting to wear hard pants, being dumped by friends in the 7th grade (for me it was 6th), aging, working through grief…so relatable.
- Happy Place by Emily Henry was a moving Rom-Com.
- Age of Vice: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel) by Deepti Kapoor I found epic and absolutely riveting. Very triggering, gritty, difficult themes, so be warned, but I found it brilliantly written with compelling characters and twisted family dynamics.
- We Were Liars E. Lockhart. The writing is lyrical, characters endearing, and the reveal intense! Not usually a suspense reader, but this one was riveting though horrific, mysterious, tragic, and well-suited to spooky season.
Email Newsletters & Blogs
- Lindsey Mack: Tarot for the Wild Soul
- Courtney Carver: Be More with Less
- Tiago Forte: Atomic Habits, 3-2-1
- Tarzan Kay
- Susanna Barkataki (also YouTube & Instagram)
Music & Listening
Impactful sources of hearing pleasure and information:
Songs & Albums
- “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan and the whole album, which I first heard on their Tiny Desk Concert, amazing
- “4 Stars” by Girls5eva
- “Shimmer Shimmer” by Moxxy
- “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars “If the world was ending I’d want to be next to you”
- “Vacation” song by Priya Ragu, who I saw live in Cologne last year and then heard on the radio in Hawai’i in May
- “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyonce
- “Rush” song by Troye Sivan
- “Lunch” song by Billie Eilish
- “Unstoppable“” song by Sia
- “Present Enough for Me” song by Hayley Sales lit up my holiday season
- “I’ll fly with You” Song by Gigi D’Agostino
- “You are the Wind Beneath my Wings” song by Bette Midler
- “Come Fly with Me” song by Frank Sinatra
- “Fly Like an Eagle” Steve Miller Band
- “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
Playlists
- Quantum Leaping into 2024
- Spring Sensations Dance
- Balletlicious Summertime Dance
- 2024 Summer Jams
- Alphabet Superset
- ABC Choreo Music Ideas
- Delectable Dance Conditioning
- Alphabet Superset 2023-4 playlist
Podcasts
- Tarot for the Wild Soul
- The Good Life Project
- Soul and Wit
Viewing
Live Performances
- “Twelve Ton Rose” Dance Concert, Choreography by Trisha Brown, performed by Ballet de Lorraine at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn
- “Giselle” Classical Ballet performed by West Hawai’i Dance Theatre at Kahilu Theatre on the Big Island of Hawai’i, where I enjoyed serving as Emcee
- Multi-Artist Artverwandte Art & Photo Exhibit at Atelier Zoozmann, Ohne das Stauen band
- Arthur’s art gallery showings, live art events
- Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, special multimedia Marina Abramovic Exhibition
- Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Dance Concert at the Koelner Philharmonie, a surprise birthday gift from my girlfriend’s mother, which she and Ela’s aunt attended with us. A world-famous all-male ballet parody troupe with legitimate dancing and comedy chops. They lived up to my high expectations, I wept with laughter and clapped my hands off with appreciation for their brilliance.
- Paris Summer Olympics Opening Festivities: this event had as much to do with music, dance, and history as with sport and I was dazzled. Had to fast-forward through the hours of the countries filing through on boats along the Seine, majestic though it was, and was annoyed by the commentary interrupting the performances (try to find a version to watch without it if you can), but the many musical and dance performance features were an absolute spectacle, showcasing artistic excellence of so many diverse and interacting kinds.
Films
- “Nimona” film
- “The Menu” film
- “Bros” film
- ““Will & Harper” is a documentary of a real friendship
- “The Lobster” film was every bit as bizarre as I had heard, darkly humorous
- “Dungeons and Dragons” film was actually very cute and entertaining
- “Deadpool and Wolverine” was the perfect silly summer film to see at the cinema (with a large popcorn), especially the Backstreet Boys dance fight scene
- “Wicked Little Letters” we watched at home, based on a true story and is a cute and wild tale of inappropriate correspondence and false accusations
- “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Film (we watched “Beetlejuice” for Halloween) new Comedy/Horror
- “How it Ends” 2021 film is both apocalyptically dark and uplifting
- Rashad Butler’s favorite movies of 2024 https://youtu.be/DTJGaqrJg7I?si=8s8rFtW9bSck_mBf
Series
- The “Girls5eva” series and their songs (a tale of a girl band reunion) kicked off my year just right, a comedy with heart, “‘coz 4eva’s too short” 🙂
- “Poker Face” Comedy-Drama Series might turn out to be my favorite fictional show of the year. Great acting, plot, music, direction…
- “The White Lotus” series is a hit for a reason, slow build mystery comedy
- “The Bear” series
- “The Brothers Sun” series
- “Only Murders in the Building” series
- New “The Wonder Years”
- “Young Rock,” a fictional future bio series about Dwayne Johnson as a presidential candidate telling stories from his youth, is light entertainment
- “The Umbrella Academy” is certainly a dark and twisted, but action packed series
- “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” though far from a new release, is still so ahead of its time and turning into a surprisingly soothing way to unwind before bed
- The “Monsters: the Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” series on Netflix is disturbing but fascinatingly nuanced in perspective as well and a chilling true crime for those into that sort of thing, which we also followed up with the new The Menendez Brothers documentary
- “The Boyfriend” series is a gay Japanese dating reality show, interesting to watch and such a completely different experience from
- “Princess Charming” series, a lesbian German dating reality show. This one we honestly don’t watch in full, rather the reactions of Annika, who humorously summarizes the action and selects relevant clips.
- “Queer Eye” Season 9 helped me have hope for humanity
YouTube Videos & Channels
- Struthless’ How to Actually Review Your Year, Alphabet Superset, and others
- World Ballet Day such as it is, “Ballet (Nerds) Day” from Ballet Reign on YouTube, a lovely collection of dancing from around the world
- Beth & Beyond Bullet Journaling
- What you really need for hand sewing from Bernadette Banner
- Theresa’s Chaotic Corner, 90’s Minimalism
- Shawna Ripari conscious consumption, contentment, 24 good things about 2024
- Shelbizleee environmentalism
- The Simple Environmentalist
- Kelly-Ann Maddox 10 spiritual tools and word of the year
My Goals for 2025
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!
Questions for Reflection
- How do you reflect on the year past?
- What goals and intentions do you have for 2025?
- 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 weekly 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:
- Reflective Practice Through Journaling in Dance, Yoga, & Life Blog Article
- Artful Archiving, Paper Purging, & Minsgame March Blog Article
- Quantum Leaping in 2024 – Word / Intention of the Year Blog Article
- Standing in Beauty 2023 – Word of the Year Blog Article
- A Beautiful Year of Slow Creation & Growth – 2023 Reflections Blog Article
- Inspiring Inputs: 2023 Reading, Listening, Viewing & Media Blog Article
- Say the Magic Words Blog Article
- Blogging My Purpose – the “Why” behind A Blythe Coach Blog Article
- Why Bother Distinguishing Your Why? Purpose Blog Article
- Goal-Setting for Dancers Blog Article
- Analog Journals for Creativity Blog Article
- Annual Refresh – Reflection, Clearing, & Planning Process Blog Article
My 2025 Word of the Year, Twenty 25s, 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