Happy 2025, from Not Alone Notes! We are all so grateful to everyone in the community for a great 2024. If you are curious about what NAN accomplished in 2024, see our report here!
I have recently joined the NAN Writer team and have loved it all so far. Being able to connect in more direct ways within this community has brought so much insight to me, and I am writing this blog post to try and share that with you too!
Although January of 2025 is already coming to a close, I think it’s still important to think about the idea of the “new year” – especially in the mental health community. Although the common representation of this holiday is celebratory, I would venture to say that there is also an underlying sense of fear for some people, myself included.
New Year’s is often seen as a benchmark of time. Some take it as an opportunity to reflect on where they are in life and set goals to mark a new beginning. Others use it as a chance to celebrate with party blowers and ball drops. A few basically pretend it doesn’t exist, and most people seem to utilize a combination of these. As much as I’d like to provide you with a definitive answer, there isn’t a “right way” to approach this topic. Wherever you are with this, I see you! I often go back and forth between perspectives from year to year. This year, New Year’s was a relief for me because it meant just a few days until getting back into my normal routine from the holiday season. But I was also asking myself many other questions from “Am I going to do enough this year?” to “What am I going to lose this year?” and “If 2024 was tricky, how much more difficult will 2025 be?”.
As I have reflected on this process to write this blog post, there is one question I realized I should really be thinking through: Is my perspective on what may come up this year realistic? My answer to this question would likely bore you, so I’ll refrain from that, but I do think it is an essential question to help guide myself towards more values-based choices than fear-based ones. I like that this question can apply to everyone, whether their thoughts are uplifting or upsetting them as well.
Did I actually ask myself this question this year? Not until I wrote this! I am absolutely not an expert at this, but I do acknowledge that my point of view of my own life is skewed by OCD. So when I am able to have those brief moments of clarity where I notice the intrusive thoughts and feelings related to a desperate need for certainty are not as big as they may feel, I like to return to this question. I hope that I can continue this practice throughout the year.
We’ll see how it goes, but no promises. 🙂
Abby, Not Alone Notes Writer
Not Alone Notes 