2025 was a year of change for me. I moved to a new city. I’ve gotten new jobs. I have visited museums, ate good food, and taken many moments to enjoy the great outdoors.

I made a conscious effort to try and limit my social media usage and overall screen time. I’ve been modifying iPods, and I now have 5 of them. I made an effort to cook more at home and have been having lots of fun trying different recipes. I have been exploring my new surroundings and I really enjoy what I’ve been seeing.

I’ve been really focused on enjoying my life and taking moments to be grateful. I know how rough things are out here. It’s very easy to fall into pessimism. I don’t blame anyone for feeling nihilistic either. If you turn on the news, things look bleak. America is in Trump’s second term and its concerning. Our economy is like a yo-yo ball, up one minute and down the next. Unemployment has gone up because of mass layoffs across multiple industries throughout the year. America is in a recession and the people in power don’t want to call it that. People are really struggling and its heartbreaking. Around the world, there is ongoing conflict in Middle East, the Pope died, there were floods and earthquakes in a few countries. Los Angeles had fires in the Palisades area at the beginning of this year.

We’ve lost quite a few people this year, including: Robert Redford, Angie Stone, Diane Keaton, Jane Goodall, Ozzy Osbourne, Chuck Mangione, Malcolm Jamal Warner, D’Angelo, David Lynch, Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer, Michelle Trachtenberg, Roberta Flack, Sly Stone, Rob Reiner, Hulk Hogan, Carl Carlton, Jeff Garcia, Marshawn Kneeland, Dick Cheney, Danielle Spencer, and others.

Music this year was interesting. In January, Kendrick Lamar performed at the Super Bowl and further solidified that he won the ‘beef’ with Drake as the entire stadium sung along to “Not Like Us”. He then went and swept the Grammy’s rap category in February. Taylor Swift released another album, I didn’t care for it. R&B had a big year with Khelani scoring a #1 hit with her song ‘Folded’. Leon Thomas, former child star from the show ‘Victorious’, had a big year with his album “Mutt” and the deluxe album, “Mutt Deluxe: Heel”. Newcomers, Gabriel Jacoby, Dijon, Elmiene, and Odeal got a lot of buzz. Summer Walker released a new album. Halle, 1/2 of the music duo ChloexHalle released her first album, “Love or Something Like It”. On the pop side, British singer-songwriter, Olivia Dean crossed the pond with her album “The Art of Loving”, her song ‘Man I Need’ was a catchy hit. Sabrina Carpenter released new music this year. This year, I listened to Olivia Dean’s album, Cynthia Erivo’s album, and Halle’s album. I listened to alot of older music this year too while I was modifying my iPods and reorganizing my iTunes library. Jamie Foxx’s 2005 hit album “Unpredictable” still slaps 20 years later.

As we come to the end of 2025, I’m grateful for what I have been able to do this year. I’m becoming more confident in my decisions and that makes me feel well. I know everything is not all sunshine and rainbows, and even through all the good in my life this year, I did have some rough days. I am hopeful for 2026.