2025: A Year for Creation

Full moon - January 13th, 2025

This year, I'm bringing new things into the world.

Happy New Year!

I hope that, no matter where you are and which holiday you celebrate (if any), you found space and time for rest and contemplation. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, even though it recedes a little every day, the darkness of the winter solstice still surrounds us. The Romans may have decided that January 1st was the day to start anew, consider this newsletter your permission slip to remain in hibernation.

To me, it really makes more sense to launch into the new year when the rest of the natural world does. That's why I love Imbolc so much. It might still be cold af on February 1st; I always feel like if plants can start sprouting out of their slumber, so can I! But for now, I still have some recuperating and reflecting to do in the warmth of my cocoon.

“ ​No one can go from deep winter to full bloom in a day, not the earth, not me, not you. ​ — Lucie Out There, February 1st, 2024

The hardships of last year made one thing apparent: 2024 would be my Year of Creativity. Confronted with, among other things, the unexpected collapse of my romantic relationship, a family death that particularly impacted one of my siblings, one of my neighbours attempting to take their own life in front of me, a stranger stealing thousands of euros from me, my new job turning toxic within a few months... a new creative force rose from the depth of my despair. The only way to survive these accumulating events would be to hold myself tightly and expand how I relate to the world around me. All these pain and shocks were real, and I could either let them scar me and fester, or I could hold them, embrace them, learn from them, and use them as material to create what comes next. Upcycle them, if you will.

As a result, in 2024, I started to breathe in a new sense of creativity into my relationship with love and intimacy, into my career and the compromises I chose to make, how I managed my finances, and, of course, into my writing and all I want to create as Lucie Out There.

This regenerative impulse is leading me to welcome 2025 as a Year of Creation. New projects are bubbling underneath the surface of my mind and are getting ready to blossom in the spring. New podcasts (in the meantime, why don't you catch up on What We Do), new offerings, new ways of reaching out and connecting people and ideas... I am so grateful to you for following and supporting my work while I explore what to make of it.

I'm also wondering if there is anything you would like to see or hear more from me. Are there any specific topics you would like me to explore? More short or long-form content? In email form like this or in a podcast? Would you like me to do more interviews or share more of my personal reflections? Let me know by replying to this email or by reaching out in any other way you usually reach out to me.

Full Moon Recommendations 🌕

New year, new section! I thought it could be nice to share with you some of the things that on the full moon newsletters inspire me "outward" and on the new moon ones inspire me "inward." By "inspired outward", I mean things that give me energy to go out into the world, expand, produce, etc. Things that inspire me "inward" are more reflective, interior, quiet maybe? Let's see how this goes!
Podcast

• ​Cody Cook-Parrott​

I've been loving Cody's work for a little while now, and I even joined their Writing community called Landscapes at the end of last year. Few things have inspired me to share my work with the world more than Cody's podcast Common Shapes and newsletter Monday Monday.

• ​Kening Zhu​

I've been enjoying Kening Zhu's podcast, Botanical Studies of Internet Magic (best title ever), about treating the internet as an art practice and websites as worlds. I invite you to visit their website, it's a beautiful trip.

• ​Universal Flowering perfume​

I recently discovered (through the Landscapes community) this incredible perfume brand from Canada called Universal Flowering and ordered some samples. Their Lilac #4 and Saffron Flour keep making me sniff myself in public. Please read each perfume's description and let your mind explode.

• ​Waxahatchee's Tiny Desk Concert​

Waxahatchee's 2024 album Tiger's Blood was my most played last year. They recently played NPR's Tiny Desk, and it is pure joy.

I hope you've enjoyed this first newsletter of the year. Feel free to share it with a friend if the urge takes you.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and to being back in your inbox on the New Moon (January 29th)!

Love,
Lucie