Less in 2025: December

Somehow it's the final Monday of December and the final Monday of the year. I know that every year I complain that time has gone by too quickly, but this year seems to have been especially fast. As we prepare to draw the curtain on 2025, I have to thank Kat for hosting our monthly One Little Word link-ups each month.

When I chose LESS as my word for 2025 at around this time last year, I couldn't have predicted how my life would change in the months ahead. All I knew at the time was that simplifying my life sounded good. Who could have guess that just a handful of months into the year, life would get a whole lot more complicated and busy?

While welcoming a puppy into our home meant much more work and more stuff (and the resulting less sleep and less free time), what I didn't anticipate was that caring for Ruthie would mean less time to focus and perseverate on the small things that in the past would have taken up residence in my head. Being focused on the here and now means less time and energy to think about the what-ifs, and for a worrier, that's a good thing. Especially given the current state of the world, it's been a relief to focus on things like when the dog last went out for a walk or if I need to order more dog food rather than whether I've lost any more personal rights on a daily basis.

Less also has proved to be a great word for me this year because it's helped me to cede some control and let go of some things that I previously would have had a hard time doing. One of the side effects of having less time to myself is that I've found I care less about looking perfectly put-together all the time. Years ago I never would have dreamed of going into work without a full face of makeup and styled hair. These days, I'm perfectly comfortably going in with a bare face and my dirty hair pulled back. I've realized (probably very late in the game) that no one else really cares whether or not I'm "done up" and that it's more about feeling good about myself -- confidence shows.

Finally, though it wasn't my main reason for choosing Less this year, it's been a main theme of how I've approached my job (especially since adopting Ruthie!). Since our leadership change about a year and a half ago, it's become very apparently to me that few people outside my immediate team at work had any idea of what I do and thus didn't value my efforts -- not to mention that our vice chancellor has decreed that no one can receive higher than "satisfactory" on their annual review even if their supervisor thinks their efforts are extraordinary. I realized earlier this year that my performance could be just as good if I actually spent less time on any given project and there was no need for my previously very time-intensive process and that putting in extra effort wouldn't benefit me in any way in any case. It's proved to be a good decision because I've been given more work and more responsibilities as the year has gone on, so needing less time for my editing process has enabled me to get the work done without getting too stressed out.

I don't plan on having a word for next year, unless one appears and insists upon it in the next couple of days, in which case Less has been an excellent wrap-up to my One Little Word experience. Each year I've had a word, it's led me to reflect on my inner life, to take stock of my values, and to focus my intentions. What Less has taught me this year is that it's okay to not do everything, to be less than perfect, and to simplify my life in favor of what matters most. I know I'll be carrying the lessons of this year with me for a long time.