Personal Essay: The Year That Was

 

Graphic Design by Jacqueline Davis Moranti

This past year, 2025, didn’t just happen to me, it dismantled me. I entered it with plans, goals, bright ideas and a sense of momentum. By the end, I discovered that life doesn’t unfold along tidy lines. It bends you, twists you, splits you open, and in those fissures you find the truth you’d been running from.

In January I walked in with energy, hopeful, confident, convinced I knew who I was and WHERE I was going. I believed that tenacity and grit were the currencies of transformation. I believed that if I worked hard enough, I could sculpt the life I wanted with precision: just enough intention, just enough effort. That notion was lovely in theory, but it didn’t prepare me for the surrender this year demanded.

One of the Most Underrated Women’s Health Biohacks? Your Underwear.

 

Winter Arc Body Care Routine

All Graphics by Jacqueline Davis Moranti

I Used the HigherDOSE Red Light Face Mask for 3 Months, Here’s What Happened...

 

Digital Detox Dressing

 

All Graphic Designs by Jacqueline Davis Moranti

When the electronic screens dim and the scroll quiets, style doesn’t disappear, it exhales! There is something so sacred about the hours that exist beyond the algorithm, the slow mornings when you don’t check your phone before coffee. The twilight hours when the world hums softly and your reflection belongs only to you.

In these moments, clothing becomes less about impression and more about immersion. It’s no longer armor for the outside world, but a gentle layer between your body and your thoughts.