amethyst73 | Good things in 2025 (Reply)

So, I think many of us would generally agree that the year 2025 in America was terrible in a lot of ways, primarily by the actions of the federal government. (I won’t bother listing any of them, as I don’t want to inflict unnecessary pain on myself or anyone else!) Given our national emotional distress, I thought it would be useful to remember the good things that happened in my household this year.

I got to sing more challenging choral repertoire at a higher level than the last four years. A local conductor formed a chamber singing group (Beati Quorum) with which she hopes to eventually tour and record. While not everything about the experience has been perfect, it’s wonderful to sing actively challenging music with some like-minded musicians!

I made new friends. I met M in Santa Cruz Chorale earlier this year, and K and R in Beati Quorum. It’s wonderful to have met some excellent singers and to find that they are interesting and awesome people to boot!

I started learning how to conduct. Beati Quorum held a number of singer-led rehearsals late in the schedule, and I was one of the people who took charge of those rehearsals. While I’ve never conducted before this, I’ve been singing under (mostly) really good conductors for 40 years or so, so I’ve presumably absorbed something in that time. :) At present, I can mostly keep tempo with one hand and very occasionally give cues with the other, all while singing my own part and listening to what’s going on around me. I can generally hear at least major diversions from what’s written most of the time, and I can certainly hear uncertainty. So I lead as best I can. Meanwhile, the conducting process engages a very different part of my brain from singing, and makes me look at music in a very different way. It’s a really fun challenge! I’m learning a lot and having a great time.

My husband wrote a bunch of music. He is very nearly done with a four-part song cycle setting poems by Wordsworth, Rosetti, and others with a flower-centric theme. You can find other scores that he’s written at https://musescore.com/user/811106 and various orchestral pieces he’s composed at https://www.youtube.com/@PeterEastman

I finished making a quilt. I started working on a quilt for our bed in November 2022 when a local fabric shop was shutting down. I knew at the time it would take a while and be a lot of work; I didn’t think it would take close to 3 years, but life happens. I’m very pleased with the result!

My husband’s research grant was renewed. After months and months of delay, the grant application was finally approved in late August. This means his job is secure for another few years, yay!

My Prozac dose was increased. I went on Prozac a bit over a year ago for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The dosage at the time definitely helped mitigate the symptoms, but was not as effective as one might hope for. This fall at the same dose, I noticed that I was tired all the dang time and that literally everything felt like it took more effort than it really should. My doctor increased the dosage, and I cannot express how much better I feel as a result! I actually looked forward to Christmas for the first time in five years! I can take real pleasure in people’s holiday decorations and be relatively tolerant of the holiday music playing in stores… Okay, okay, and I’ll even admit to enjoying it a little. It’s amazing how much more interested in everything I am compared to the past few years, and how much easier it is for me to engage with people and to laugh. As a friend would say, I am achieving better living through chemistry. 🙂

I graduated therapy. I started talk therapy in March 2023 concomitant with my diagnosis of SAD the previous December, and it’s made a tremendous difference in various aspects of my life. Primarily I’m a lot calmer (turns out I had symptoms of anxiety as well as SAD that medication uncovered). I learned how to self-reflect and self-examine with minimal judgement involved, and have increased my sense of self-worth tremendously. I found in June of this year that I really wasn’t in crisis any longer (which is what this particular therapy was intended to treat) and was capable of self-management. If needed I can always go back, as many patients do.

Rabbits continue to make a home on our property. They are not new this year, but the bush bunnies continue to delight us with their presence. They cannot keep the grass under control on their own, but they do their best!

Take care, and may 2026 be EVEN BETTER than 2025!