December 2025
Space...
In 2025, I chose the word “space” as my overall word for the year. I can never stop at just one word, so I choose three more to alternate focus on throughout the year (which I write about over at julianneharvey.com), but space was something I wanted to build into my everyday life.
More space to just be. To feel. To think. To process the big emotions: grief, joy, hope, imagination, dreaming. To stop scrolling behind a screen and get out into the analog world and remember what’s so great about being alive at this moment in time. Here, in the quiet and dark season of December, it’s a good moment to slow down and reflect on the concept of space.
I used to be so rushed, my calendar jam-packed, my distractions intentionally fracturing my attention span. That way of life doesn’t interest me any longer. Now I want peace. Space. An open mind and soul. I long to be generous with my affection, my abilities, my heart. What does it look like in your life, to make more space for your human experience?
One-Word Feeling Check-In
How are you feeling right now, in one word? I’m feeling quiet. One of my favourite things about December is opting out of the mad rush to shop and prep for the holiday season. I try to get ready for Christmas slowly, over the entire fall, so when December hits I can enjoy the beauty of the season with the baking done, the wrapping done (or mostly done), and I can settle in and relax.
It doesn’t always go according to plan, of course, but this year it has been quieter with both kids living on the island and Jason doing a lot of work travel. I’ve been taking things at a slower pace, refusing to feel frantic about everything that must be done, and trying to be intentional about staying present to enjoy the textures of the moments I’m living in. How are you feeling?
Book Corner
I’ve been reading John Grisham novels since I was a teenager, so I still get excited when he releases a new thriller. The Widow is his first whodunnit, and even though the pacing was a little uneven I still enjoyed this novel. It made me go back and do a re-read of some of my earlier favourites like The Rainmaker and The Summons.
This month I caught up with the latest adventures of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series with The Impossible Fortune, and I absolutely loved Culpability by Bruce Holsinger, a novel focused on the many thorny ethical issues around generative AI. It’s a must-read.
Write Your Novel or Memoir Online Class
It’s the last chance to join the current Write Your Novel or Memoir class online for the Start section beginning January 4, 2026! We still have room and would love to have you join us for a weekly craft element, process focus, creative practice, and one-word feeling check-in while you work toward your dream of writing a full-length book in a supportive community environment. It’s only $125 for five weeks of writing and workshopping.
All the info is on my Classes page and please email me if you have questions or would like to sign up!
Intuitive Courage Podcast
Episode 19 is called Culpability. Ever since I read the novel by Bruce Holsinger of the same name, I’ve been thinking about this word and what it means. Culpable means responsible. Who is to blame or at fault in any given situation? In the book, he focuses on ethical AI, but here in this episode, I’m interested in exploring personal and societal culpability. Where does my responsibility for myself begin and end, and how does that extend to others?
Please have a listen on December 21st. What do we owe to ourselves and to others? What does responsibility look like right now, both personally and within our society?
New 2026 Class: Joy at the End of the World?
I’m spending the month of December working on my new journal project, getting back into my Body at the Fair murder mystery novel, and planning for 2026. I’m waiting to find out if my Writing Well nurture classes through Alexandra Writers’ Centre in Calgary are going to continue, and I’m thinking about creating an online class based on my new climate conference session, Joy at the End of the World.
Would you be interested in working through some big climate feelings in community with me and others next year? Are there specific issues you’d be interested in discussing in a flexible online class setting with other people around cultivating joy and hope instead of abject despair when it comes to the climate crisis? Drop me a line at julianne@rubyfinchbooks.com as I plan. I’d love to hear from you.
TV Recs
We got Apple TV again, mostly to watch the newest fantastic season of Slow Horses, but we’ve also been loving Down Cemetery Road and The Last Frontier. Over on Crave, we finished The Chair Company, and it was wonderfully weird and original from start to finish.
On Netflix, season two of A Man on the Inside is like a dose of happy sunshine. It’s filling the void that I experienced after finishing both seasons of Colin from Accounts.
The Best Cats in the World: Teddy & Pippin!
There hasn’t been as much kitten mischief with the Christmas tree as I thought there would be (in fact, when we did our decorating, Pip hid for hours and then wouldn’t come near the tree as he seemed terrified by it), but both cats do love sleeping under it. When I wrap presents and stuff them under the tree, they are going to be miffed as they will lose a new favourite lounging spot!
Pippin has begun nightly assaults on Ava’s stuffed panda Petey. He usually sits on her bed, but lately we wake up to Petey on the floor in the hallway or in our bedroom. We have yet to see Pip carry this large panda, which is bigger than Pippin himself, but several times a week there’s evidence that he’s up to no good with poor Petey in the midnight hours.
From our house to yours, Teddy and Pippin wish you a peaceful and merry Christmas!
Libraries forever,
Julianne and Ruby Finch Books