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!
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!
Twenty Twenty-Five
so glad to be alive,
finding me floating,
spreading wings to fly.
That’s an excerpt from the poem I shared when I declared my Word of the Year and practices to make it so.
Here I reflect on the soaring times and storms of 2025.
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.
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.
The month of November in my life was about gratitude, harvest, bittersweet endings/transitions, dancing & prolific creativity! With the Beaver Moon, Transgender Day of Remembrance, American Thanksgiving and other memorable events, in this article I wrap up November 2025 in dancing & making, teaching & publishing.
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.
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 wrap up the month of September and Quarter 3 of 2025 in my projects & life.
In August I continued my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series and kicked off a “Flights of Fancy” series and enjoyed late-summer harvest.
For me, it turned to be a pretty whirlwind season. Although we didn’t take any longer trips out-of-town, there were good warm times outdoors and outside the city as well as productive work on creative projects and a decent amount of teaching smaller summer holidays classes.
July is about high summer, brought a heat wave and then cool rain to Cologne, and kicked off my “Swashbuckling Summer” and “Splits this Season” series with glowing energy and creativity.
A sweet spring in Cologne and in the US came to a close, June brought a heat wave, hay fever, relief that a couple critical medical procedures in the family seem to have been successful, end-of-schoolyear, start of the summer, and birthday fests.
In this article I’ll wrap up the month of June, Quarter 2, and the first 6 months of 2025 as a whole in my own projects, life and events.