The month of October 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 wrap up the month of October of 2025 in my projects, life and events.
What do you do to reflect, review, and refresh?
Ooh October
… brought highlights 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)
- Got out my Halloween candle and witch hat, music playlists, “Cinderella” story, and fall leaf props for dancing inspirations
- Nordrhein-Westfalen had Herbstferien / Fall Break, during which I continued to teach some classes but had a pause from others and Germany also had our Time Change “falling back” from Central European Summer Time to CET
- Getaway to Liege, Belgium by train with city tour, Waffel, meatballs, beer tasting & laughs with friends and stayed in a cute Airbnb
- Another friend’s art gallery opening inspired
- Physical Therapy for my hip issue was starting to help reduce pain and increase range of motion
- Scooter commuting on The Black Pearl was fast, convenient, noticeably improved my strength & balance, and great fun!
- Fall baking: Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Chocolate Chip Cookies; eating other seasonal specialties such as Petra’s homemade Sauerkraut Soup
Creative Challenges
My creative process supports me through it all, not just financially since that is my profession, but as a Teaching Artist, Choreographer, Movement Educator & Coach, I get to explore my soul’s expression, my Being.
Many of these priority projects are part of my Twenty 25s, which I reflect on below, these being actions/habit/leading metric statistics of actions within my control.
Bullet Journaling & Planning
I shared my initial monthly setup in my Seasonal Book on Instagram here with Cat-Tober decorative theme and lots of Halloweeny pumpkin and bat accents, then 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 November 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 continued and I also began giving daily Ballet Technique for the Advanced Dance Program. So far it is the absolute treat that I imagined the opportunity would be, and it’s stunning to see how much the dancers are growing as artists!
Writing & Publishing Articles
In October I published 4 articles to the blog here at ablythecoach.com, bringing my annual total to 32. 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.
October’s new articles:
- How to Find & Foster Safe(r) Spaces in a Diverse Dancing Life As a dance educator and teaching artist, creating a safe space for learning has long been a topic of interest and top priority in coaching and classes. Being familiar with the concept of Safer Space codes of conduct in the context of queer nightlife, parties, dances, and demonstrations, the same tenets are applicable in a variety of social and educational contexts.
- Looking Forward to Learning, Teaching & Creating – Autumn 2025 Personal Curriculum Let’s romanticize, gamify, and bring the fun to our learning and creating goals this season with a “Personal Curriculum!” It is a trending topic that I can really jump on board with.
- SeptEMBER was Fire – 2025 Month 9 & Quarter 3 Reflection September brought the last gasp of Summer in Cologne and I basked in the warmth, as well as events such as the Harvest Moon, Autumn Equinox, back-to-school, Oktoberfest, and more! In this article I wrapped up the month of September and Quarter 3 of 2025 in my projects & life.
- Mood Music that Moves Me- Playlists of Songs & Pieces to Inspire the Spirit Nothing sets the mood like the right music! Tastes vary, but the exploration of music that moves us is full of delightful discoveries that become lifelong memories. As a choreographer, teaching artist and coach, music, songs, and playlists are a huge part of my life, as I disc jockey sessions in real time and build up my library of music with which I resonate.
Filming & Sharing Videos
I published 5 videos to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel on the topics of dance, creativity, and purposeful living in October:
- October Plan With Me – Fall Seasonal Bullet Journal Setup: Here is my process of setting up for a new week, month, and quarter in a new seasonal BuJo, which made of a cozy Sunday afternoon and a well-organized and whimsical entry into the new period. Due to an increasingly packed Fall teaching, coaching, and dancing schedule, it behooves me to incorporate the contents of my existing creativity and productivity practices into my channel sharing, and I find October particularly delightful to set up for.
- Finding & fostering Safer Spaces in a diverse dancing life – Research Bullet Journal Spread: As a dance educator and teaching artist, creating a safe space for learning has long been a topic of interest and top priority in coaching and classes in studios, colleges, universities, and schools. Having previously become familiar with the concept of Safer Space codes of conduct in the context of LGBTQ+ nightlife, parties, dances, and demonstrations, the same tenets are true for a variety of social and educational contexts. Here I’m sharing a quick review of my research in progress in the form of notes in my seasonal Bullet Journal.
- Autumn Personal Curriculum 2025 – Looking forward to Learning & Teaching this Season: Let’s romanticize, gamify, bring the fun to our learning and creating goals this season with a “Personal Curriculum!” It is a trending topic that I can really jump on board with. This nerd is ahead of the times, as I lifelong student constantly pursuing curiosity. Here’s what I’m planning on researching, teaching, reading, writing, creating, listening to, and viewing in cozy season 2025.
- September , Summer & Q3 Flip & Reflection – Creative Journal of a Bliss Catalyst Dancer Coach: September was on fire with back-to-school action, wild times around the world, and conclusion of summer and 3rd quarter! This is a flip-through of the month in my Seasonal Bullet Journal Book, media I published & personally consumed, high & lowlights and special events.
- Plummy Plumb Lines – Finding Your Center of Gravity – Ballet & Dance Alignment Tool Visualization: Perhaps you are familiar with the concept of vertical alignment, the dimensions of space, planes of the body, and center of gravity in support of balance and dance technique. If so, what tools and visualizations do you utilize to develop spatial awareness? If not, here’s a valuable visual to apply to your dancing and/or teaching. Add further visualizations, like Betsy Fisher’s effervescent bubbles rising, to enhance dynamic balance!
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 October, taking a temporary pause from weekly letters during this busy season with the blessing of my readers:
In addition, I posted 16 times to Instagram.
Twenty 25s in 2025
My “Twenty 25s” are a playful way to track various leading metrics, projects and activities I wish to keep an eye on this year.
In Quarter 3 I completed another three “25s” for at total of 14/20, getting closer! Particularly taking action toward the remaining categories in Q4, so working on Pieces of Choreography, Music practices, and Letter-writing.
Media Musings
My October in reading, listening, and viewing pleasures:
Reading
Books
- Someday is Today by Matthew Dicks, one of my nonfiction picks of 2025, finally complete and a good motivating read. I don’t agree with all of his time-saving tactics, but it’s worth a look if you’ve got work you want to produce and can’t seem to find the time, lots of valuable takeaways that I will apply nonetheless.
- The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez was another sweet romantic dramedy from this author who has a knack for writing characters I feel like I’ve met
Still reading along on some of my nonfiction picks (also scripture, personal growth):
- Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib
- 365 Poems for Life: An Uplifting Collection for Every Day of the Year collected by Allie Esiri
Listening Highlights
Favorite things heard over the course of the month go here, such as concerts, songs, pieces of music, playlists, podcasts and more.
New in October, my Mood Music that Moves Me- Playlists of Songs & Pieces to Inspire the Spirit article links to all of my current playlists-in-use, with seasonal and other themed collections.
Playlists, Songs & Music
- Spooky October Sounds playlist on YouTube was my Halloweentime accompaniment as well as
- Send Me Sighing – Bluesy Autumnal Jazz playlist on YouTube and
- Harvest & Thanksgiving Songs playlist on YouTube to give all the Fall Feels
- “Look Up” song by Joy Oladokun really does uplift
Monthly Viewing Highlights
Saw a wide variety of media in October, including different genres, styles, and appropriate ages:
Live
Attending the “Beethoven 7“ dance concert by Sasha Waltz & Guests electrified me in week 41, and our friend Arthur’s latest art opening inspired as well.
Film
- “Fly Me to the Moon” film with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum was a cute historical romance
- “28 Years Later” zombie movie for Halloween was the right mood for a mellow evening of pizza with friends
Series
Standout series in a few different genres:
- “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
- Started the “WondLa” animated fantasy/sci-fi series with my middle schoolers and it is bringing family friendly action adventure and a strong female lead character
Questions for Reflection
- What October/last month memories are you saving?
- What are you creating, planning, practicing, enjoying?
- How will you make the most of this season?
- With which challenges you’re currently facing might I 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