2025 has been an extremely intense year…
My Mom passed away over the summer in late June. It had been several years of her struggling. It was both expected and completely unexpected. For a long while, there was always a part of me bracing myself for this moment to come, which really puts your body into a constant state of anxiety. It began feeling like at any moment that she would have to say goodbye. But there was also always a very small part of me that was hopeful that she could hold on or get better.
Of course my passion has not been 100% there with all of this going on, but this year I really focused on learning new skills, building habits, and bettering myself. I can’t help but feel reflective over the past five years, since 2020, rather than this year alone. And 2020 is the year that my mom took a really sharp decline. It was the year that I moved into my own place to live by myself for the first time. It was the year that the pandemic began.
I really spent a lot of time alone in 2020-2021, and all of the alone-time allowed me to build something really great. I opened up my Etsy shop for psychic readings, potions, and charms. I started writing horoscopes and recording tarot readings online. I studied a lot more about divination. I took two palmistry courses on Zoom. The amount of information I learned about mysticism, mythology, and all of those kinds of things is huge.
I also wrote and self-published my first book in 2021, another in 2022, and another in 2023 (and one more in 2025!) And in the year 2022, I opened up my Medium blog and began making more money from writing. I certainly made plenty of time for friends and family, but a good chunk of my time was spent focused on this – creating, learning, building.
As the pandemic ended and the world opened up again, and maybe I was getting a little restless, life got busier. Beyond writing and mystical stuff, there were so many other things that I wanted to learn and do.
Self-published my sequel!
In February, I self-published my fourth book, which was the first sequel I’ve ever done. And then in June, I published the audiobook version. It’s crazy to believe that I did this in 2025, it feels like much longer ago for some reason. That’s probably because the bulk of the book-writing was done in 2024.
I’m really proud of my novel! It’s really hard to sell novels but the whole process of writing and creating is so fun to me. I’m really not sure if there will be any more books in the future. I have debated writing a trilogy to complete the series, or to even create a whole new story for a different book, or doing nonfiction. I really don’t know at this point.
Cooking
I have done a lot of cooking in 2025. Ever since I moved out of my parents house, I wanted to know how to cook fresh foods from scratch and stop relying so much on boxed or frozen meals. Getting to my later twenties and thinking more about my health, I’ve pushed myself more to find ways to do this. I’ve also struggled with ARFID, which has held me back for most of my life.
Crochet
In 2025, I learned to crochet! I made two stuffed animals (a fox and a bunny), and I made several granny squares! I definitely want to keep building on this next year.
Cross stitch
I started my first cross stitch project very recently. Cross stitch is so much fun, so relaxing and meditative. I definitely want to do much more in 2026.
Folklore
I’ve found even more interest in folklore and fairytales this year. I’m really interested in learning more about the origins of original fairytales. I bought this amazing book on Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore, which I’ve been sharing the stories about on this blog.
Kalimba
I bought the kalimba in 2024, I practiced a little in 2025 but definitely not as much as hoped! I’d like to keep learning more songs!
Medium
I had a lot of success on Medium — I made approximately $2500 this year. I found that 95% of my views come from horoscopes and tarot readings. So, I will be mainly focusing on astrology/tarot (and some general divination and spirituality) on my Medium blog.
Now on my current WordPress blog (this one!), I’m not drawing in any income. I actually cancelled ads on my site because it took me several years just to reach the minimum payout ($100), and I ended up getting screwed over because of issues with both WordPress and PayPal. So absolutely no more ads on this site.
Despite that frustrating part, I do like having full ownership over my content. This is a place for both writing growth and personal expression.
Etsy
This year, my Etsy shop had a total of 8 sales with a total revenue of approximately $100. It’s nothing to brag about but I did receive some really positive reviews. I really enjoy doing readings and it’s not “work” to me.
My shop is fairly passive in that I don’t do much to promote it. I also removed physical item sales a couple years ago. Next year, I am really debating if I want to put more energy into my shop or let it be. It all really depends how my personal life goes and how much extra time I have.
YouTube
I did not really do much with my YouTube channel this year, but I continue to have an audience come in. This year, I do want to put in my energy to this. I’m getting close to being eligible to make an income. And I got a new phone this year which should make filming easier.
More for 2026
- Read at least 12 novels
- Learn punch needle
- Learn knitting
- More herbal crafts
- Homemade skincare
- More hooping/hoop tricks
- More exercise – yoga, pilates, barre, belly dance
- Language learning
- More blog posts
Post ideas for 2026
What will I be posting on my blog in 2026?
10 Years of Lotus Laura
September 2026 marks the ten-year anniversary of this blog! I will do a temporary series where I write about reflections on blogging for the past ten years.
- Most Popular Posts
- My Favorite Posts
- Reflections on specific categories
- Milestones & accomplishments
Folklore & fairytales
- “The fairytale series” is something I started back in 2021 with only 2 posts, I planned on writing a lot more. I had forgotten about it until I was going through old posts. I’d really like to continue this.
- Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore – I will be sharing more stories from PA Dutch folklore! There’s a lot!
- Grimm’s Fairy Tales – I would like to go through all of the most famous Grimm’s fairy tales and do a retelling or explanation on them.
Aesthetics
- Honeycore
- Mushroomcore
- Balletcore
- So many more…
Mythology
- Greek Mythology series
- About each of the gods and goddesses
Ask a Cat Mom
- More cat mom questions!
Spirituality
- Breaking down each day of the week to connect to the spiritual energies.
How to be…
- I’ve made posts before like “how to be a mermaid” which is like practical meets fantasy.
Song Analysis
- Breaking down song lyrics.
Wishing everyone a happy new year!
Crystal Aura Gaze 
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