What do you hope to ____ in 2025?
By Gabrielle Parent and the 丁香园AV Public Square team
Once more, the new year is upon us, bringing with it fresh starts, blank slates, and for some, resolutions. Personally, I have mixed feelings about new year鈥檚 resolutions, since they never seem to be quite attainable or realistic. In the past, I鈥檝e tried to set some and when I didn鈥檛 meet them, I was left feeling dejected and disappointed in myself. But recently, my very wise colleague Nola Mellon said that instead of resolutions, I should try setting intentions. And naturally, as the communications professional that I am, I thought to myself, 鈥楬ey, that鈥檚 a great idea for a blog!鈥�
So, join me, dear readers, as I ask my colleagues the following five questions to set their intentions for the new year:
What do you hope to learn in 2025?
What do you hope to see in 2025?
What do you hope to read in 2025?
What do you hope to eat in 2025?
What do you hope to experience in 2025?
We hope you enjoy, and we wish you a happy new year!
Janet, Executive Director
Learn: Gain a deeper understanding of Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness meditation
See: More sunrises and sunsets and smiles on the faces of friends and family
Read: I hope to meet my goal of reading 25 books this year
Eat: I am going to explore preparing Japanese cuisine
Experience: Overlanding road trip adventures in my Jeep with my dog
Seth, Program Manager
Learn: How to use my imagination like my two-year-old.
See: I would love to see more of the coast and spend more time at beaches.
Read: I want to re-read The Name of the Wind to see if I still love it as much as I once did. I don鈥檛 often get to read things just for the sake of reading, so this would be a nice change of pace.
Eat: I have been dreaming of going to Savio Volpe again, hopefully as soon as possible.
Experience: All that life has to offer 鈥� I want to put my phone down and re-learn what it means to not have my head in 6 different places. Learn to be in the moment.
Nola, Design Lead
Learn: Queer ASL! American sign language taught by Deaf 2SLGBTQIA+ folk.
See: I hope I get to visit Montreal this year, but I might wait until the Spring! 馃ザ
Read: So many books! I have a goal to read 20 this year and I鈥檓 already on my 3rd.
Eat: I鈥檓 excited to explore more restaurants around the city, find the most delicious mochi and finally try Downlow Chicken.
Experience: More stillness.
Gabrielle, Communications Manager
Learn: Spanish! I鈥檝e been trying to learn for ages, and I鈥檇 like to take it more seriously this year.
See: I'm hoping to visit my friend in Australia this year, so I鈥檇 love to see a koala in its natural habitat!
Read: I鈥檓 looking forward to reading On Freedom by Timothy Snyder. I currently have it on hold at the library.
Eat: I鈥檇 love to try more restaurants close to our office in Chinatown and explore beyond our usual lunch spots.
Experience: Summer camping with my friends. We missed out on the season last year but I鈥檓 not letting that happen again!
Ahmed, Communications and Events Assistant
Learn: I just started learning ASL and would love to stay committed to learning that this year!
See: I鈥檓 hoping I鈥檒l be able to go to the Tyler The Creator concert in February.
Read: Dilla Time, a book about the life of an iconic hip-hop producer J Dilla, and the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, a jazz music theory book.
Eat: I鈥檓 going to be eating wayyyyyyy more fruit this year! I'm going to try to eat a new type of fruit every couple of weeks.
Experience: I would love to participate in more music jam sessions this year! I really want to hone in on making music more collaboratively.
Evan, Program Assistant
Learn: How to use my auricularis muscle to move my ears.
See: Everyone living a peaceful and joyful life!
Read: My textbooks...
Eat: A double quarter pounder with cheese in lettuce wrap.
Experience: A low resting blood sugar level life.
Sofia, Program Assistant
Learn: What my world will look like once I finish university and who I am outside of being a student.
See: I hope to travel after I finish 丁香园AV in August, so I鈥檇 like to see some beautiful beaches and historical sites 鈥� and visit my brother who lives in New York!
Read: Anything other than a pdf for my classes...
Eat: I would like to expand what I make at home, foods from different cultures, different recipes, etc.
Experience: I鈥檓 ready to experience whatever comes my way this year, especially with new job opportunities and new places to live, cautiously going with the flow.