Hello, internet – I’m baaaaack! I’m kicking off 2025 with a long overdue return to my blog/website. I worked on this post for far fewer hours than usual, and I committed to myself that I would post whatever messy prose was complete by 11:59 am Eastern on January 1, 2025. So Happy, Imperfect New Year!
I wrote my applied positive psychology masters (MAPP) capstone on perfectionism – research is “me”search as they say. I call myself a “recovering perfectionist,” and the recovery is moving at a glacial pace. But in the spirit of changes in behavior impacting changes in mindset, I’m out here to just post the darn thing, to act when things are imperfect (because it will never be perfect anyway), and to reinforce for myself that posting regularly will yield results, rather than waiting for some singular stroke of inspiration. In the theme of resolutions, the most effective behavior changes are incremental shifts (like my World Leadership Conference chair year theme – daily actions, lasting impact). The thoughts will flow and the ideas will come if I post imperfectly with regularity.
Since it’s been a year and a half since my last post, there’s a lot to share about what I’ve been up to!
- After a few months of “what the heck am I doing here,” I’ve fully settled into my work at Heights! I’m proud and grateful to support the community our alumni are building together, and I am deeply committed to our mission of building economic and social mobility for Philly youth. While the way forward still feels foggy, I am excited about research on social capital building that has the potential to inform a whole new vision and pathway for volunteers in 2025.
- I continue to teach the Friday 6 am power flow at Yoga Habit and added the Monday 7:30 pm class, which (somewhat to my surprise given the odd hours) have become highlights of my week. It shows how our rhythms are transformed by community. I love the energetic banter of Monday nights, learning more about my friends each week, and solidifying relationships by checking in about the rhythms of their lives. The 6 am regulars are a fun and social crew who make an effort to get to know one another, and my yoga teaching inspiration and retreat buddy teaches the following class. It’s built-in relationship building and positive emotion.. I will be moving from the Monday evening class to Thursdays at 6pm in the new year – I’d love to see you on Thursday evenings or Friday mornings!
- I continue to serve on the training team for the Penn Resilience Program. I was lucky to work on several higher education projects in the last year and a half, bringing me back to the core of why I loved working with college students as an academic advisor. I did not expect to build such deep relationships with fellow team members. This has been a gift especially in challenging times.
- I said no to an exciting project to help build the humanities division within the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). It was a very hard no to give, but I knew that it would just not fit in with my current commitments. It’s important to include here – we typically list all the things we did, but we should also reinforce those things we didn’t do (by choice, chance, or otherwise).
- Thankfully I still get my dose of melding my love of positive psych and the arts by serving as the lead AI for MAPP 710, Humanities and Human Flourishing in the MAPP program at the University of Pennsylvania (as well as lead AI for Foundations of Positive Interventions in the fall semester).
- Dixon and I became Uncle Dix and Aunt Liz (or Riz)! Our nice Charlie (Charlotte) is silly, smiley, and just so much fun.
- I started a new creative journey by taking Improv 101 at Philly Improv Theater – with my professor no less! I had no idea how much I needed a space each week to think less and play more. The biggest lesson for me was to go with intuition, to stop self-editing and worrying that I was going to fail so I can just jump in. I’m excited to dive into Improv 201 in just a few days.
As we begin 2025, here’s what stuck with me last year and a bit of a look ahead:
Big Lesson of 2024: “Joy in the face of hard times is not a luxury, it is a necessity.” (See https://www.findingsteadyground.com/ for the full quote and context.) Authoritarian regimes want us to disconnect and feel alienated from one another. We grow in despair when we are apart. Finding joy and connection is even more critical in the hardest times, whether the challenges are personal, global or all of the above.
What am I most proud of about 2024: I have grown in confidence and trust myself in new ways. It makes work, relationships, and life flow with greater ease.
What do I need more of in my life in 2025: In-person connection time with friends, family, and my various communities. When I have an opportunity to be physically together with folks, rather than worrying about my schedule or tasks that won’t get done, I just want to say “yes.”
What do I need less of in my life in 2025: Overthinking. For someone who is trained in identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and how they impact our behavior, emotions, and physiology… yikes, do I have a lot of those patterns. It’s time to use more of my expertise on myself.
What I am most looking forward to in 2025: 2024 was a lot of planting seeds and new growth, particularly in building new communities and skills. To push (too hard) on this gardening metaphor, 2025 is both about further cultivation and pruning. Building up what was sown in 2024, and discerning what needs to be trimmed (or fully pulled by the roots) in the year ahead.
My wish for you in 2025 is that you know you are already enough and still can find ways to grow. May you be kinder to yourself and others, and may you find moments (or even hours!) of peace even with the inherent uncertainty in our world. More than anything, I hope that 2025 is both fun and meaningful, both for yourself and as you commune with loved ones.
With love and appreciation ~ Liz
