Intention Setting, 2025 Edition

Last week’s solstice, tomorrow’s new moon, the turning of the year: time to set some intentions.

Hi friend,

When I started this weekly newsletter four years ago, I did it for accountability. I had an 18-month-old and so little time to write. I worried if I didn’t hold onto it with both hands, my writing life would slip away. My goal back then was simple: 500 words a day. That was the year I wrote LEAVE.

My goals for 2022 were less aggressive: read every day, write every day. Doesn’t matter if it’s 10 words or 1000. Touch the world. Then 2022 did its work on me and I didn’t even bother to set goals for 2023. 😅

For 2024, I went back to my basic resolution: read every day, write every day.

As it turned out, I didn’t write every day in 2024. I probably didn’t even write on half the days in 2024. I may no longer be the kind of writer who writes every day. When I did write, I wrote a lot, almost entirely essays. One or two of them might get published but mostly this year was me learning how to write an essay, or learning what a Shayne Terry essay is like anyway. (Like my fiction: I like it, but it’s not for everyone.)

Going into 2025, I don’t have specific, daily writing goals, but I am taking stock of where things are right now and what I’d like to shift, eliminate, or invite in. So, some intentions.

1. Make my tech work for me, not the other way around.

Things I want to use my phone for:

• Reading

• Listening to audiobooks

• Listening to music

• Taking notes for future writing

• Calling friends and family

• Taking photos

Things I actually use my phone for:

• Checking text messages

• Checking email

• Checking Instagram

• Scrolling through podcast episodes to find one I want to listen to

I don’t normally look at the “screentime” stats on my phone, but in the spirit of understanding the problem, I did. Apparently I pick up my phone over 300 times a week in response to an email or text notification. Apparently I spend over 4 hours a week on Instagram, usually pulled in by a notification.

I don’t want to not use these apps; these apps are how I stay connected with people I love. But I don’t need to be pinged every time I get an email or someone DMs me. I don’t need to see the seductive red badge on the app. Going into the new year, I’m doing a big phone cleanup — turning off notifications, unsubscribing, unfollowing, deleting, reorganizing. Taking back my attention.

2. Read like a kid.

Voraciously. For pleasure. Any time, any place. Drowning out the world around me. Like there’s a personal pan pizza waiting for me at the end.

3. Follow the energy.

I don’t know which writing projects are going to pull me in 2025. I would love to finish a draft of the glass house novel. I would love to write more essays. I would love to write more short stories. But I have learned I don’t control where the energy is, and forcing it doesn’t work. Stay open and show up: that’s the best I can do.

Intentions 1 and 2 are the setup for 3. They’ll also help me be a more present mother, partner, friend, neighbor, coworker, etc. (I’m hoping they’ll see me through the wild ride that is book promotion, too.)

Whether you’re doing resolutions/goals/intentions for 2025 or not, I’m wishing you a beautiful new moon and new year.

With love,
Shayne