This past year has not been a very productive one for me, as far as producing books goes. At this time last year, I’d hoped to have the second book in The Light-Whisperers of Kalevala trilogy published, or at the very least in the final stages of editing and formatting. As it stands now, I’m still wading through the first draft. 

Book writing, and creativity in general, has been a challenge for me this year. The day after Christmas last year, my family moved my elderly father into a nursing home. His Alzheimer’s made it unsafe – for him and my mom – to care for him at home. While dealing with that transition, several other members of my family had various unrelated health challenges during the first part of the year. Then in the summer I put my house up for sale. Autumn brought more changes as my father passed away and I moved into a new place that, while safe and comfortable, wasn’t quite move-in ready and thus required some time-consuming work. Other smaller things also happened this year that were surprising drains on mental energy. 

Could I have managed my time better in certain situations, or just been more disciplined in general, and thus made more progress on my book? Absolutely. But I refuse to let what-ifs and self-imposed guilt deprive me of the things I have accomplished in 2025. 

Now it’s Christmas and the year’s end, the time when we reflect on the good and the bad of the past year. I’ve had plenty of bad this year – and some other things that weren’t necessarily bad, but were definitely distractions and used up a lot of my time and creative energy. But there’s also been a lot of good. And even though I haven’t hit the word counts or finished book projects I wanted to, I’ve found ways to keep my creativity alive. Here are a few pictures of some small creative things I’ve done this year: 

Sometimes life happens and you just don’t have the time to be creative the way you want to. And other times you might technically have the time in your schedule, but your focus and motivation just isn’t there. It’s okay. Take the time to rest, heal, and find other small ways to stay creative and exercise your mind. Stay in touch with your creativity, and sooner or later, you’ll be able to get back on track, or find new ways to let your imagination flourish. Here’s to a new year of creativity, discovery, and joy! 

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