It’s the last day of 2025. What are you going to do with it?
2025, like all years, was a mixed bag, but the mix doesn’t matter much now. What I do with these last hours may not register in the grand scheme of things either. Still, how I use the moments of this final day feels significant, especially in terms of the energy I carry forward into 2026.
On New Year’s Eve
I’m writing and planning.
I began today in a virtual writing community with forty-one other writers. Each of us worked quietly on our own projects, big and small. I’m drafting this New Year’s Eve blog. In a couple of hours, I’ll host my own virtual group, and, later this afternoon, I’ll hold space for generative writing in a locally owned coffee shop.
I’ll also read the final daily entry in my beloved Daily Stoic. I made this book part of my morning pages routine for three years. In 2025, I used the daily readings as prompts for stories, poems, and even to slip into scenes of my novels. I plan to set it aside for a year and explore one or two of four daily readers stacked on my desk, using them in the same way. Choosing won’t be easy:
- A Calendar of Wisdom (Leo Tolstoy’s last work)
- 365 Tao
- A Year with C.S. Lewis
- The Daily Buddhist
Tolstoy’s will probably make my cut because Calendar! Speaking of which, I’m happy to share that I finally have a calendar on this website as well as the Inner Garden website, where you can find upcoming writing meetups and retreats. I’ll spend part of today populating the early weeks of 2026 there.
Most importantly, I’ll sink my teeth back into my novel Eleanor. She’s written but scattered. The challenge of gathering Eleanor’s pieces has pushed back my finish line, but a new development reminds me it’s time to push through. Yesterday, the grandson of the woman this novel is based on was murdered. While this novel isn’t about her grandchildren or about murder, it sits adjacent to the drug culture that leads to neglect and elderly abuse.
I’m ready for 2026.
My 2026 digital vision board is in place, my 2026 Daily Weeklies is printed and bound, and I have a calendar.
While nothing earth-shaking will happen in my small corner of the world today, this passage into 2026 feels big and complete.
What to do with December 31, 2025? I’m choosing immersion—into the writing, the community, and the energy I want to carry forward. What will you do with these last hours of 2025?
©Pennie Nichols. All Rights Reserved. 2025.
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