Perspective and Perception in 2025

I spent the last three weeks of 2024 in two different countries, far away from the place that I call home. When I returned it was evident that after a year of cultivating the tools of breath and balance there was one more thing I needed to carry in my toolbox—a sense of perspective. 

For many of us this past year was filled with incredible highs and devastating lows. I had some successes in my professional life that included launching the initial version of a Google Arts & Culture project focused on America’s Chinatowns, the publication of a review essay in The Public Historian, and the completion of term on the National Council on Public History board.  

A wooded area on Havelock Island adjacent to the Radhanagar Beach, view of the Chidiya Tapu Beach, and Me posing on Havelock Island.

On the personal side I watched ten people I care about bring new life into the world, filling my feeds and text chains with photographs of tiny humans. I took my nieces to our first movie together, spent some time with my new hobby of water coloring by painting with my nephew, and found ways to spend quality moments with my friends and family as we gardened, danced at weddings, and experienced new live music. I also built some muscles (IYKYK) while experiencing the wonder of a partial eclipse and the Northern Lights.

But then there were the lows. In the spring I said goodbye to my grandmother, a woman who had prophesied this very moment (with a twinkle in her eye) as I hugged her at the end of my 2023 visit. While small in comparison to the very real horrors facing communities across the globe, it felt like losing a piece of the sun. This deeply personal loss came into stark relief when I walked into her apartment nearly seven months later and saw the empty swing and balcony where she used to sit.

Then there was November, and the slowly growing dread for our future. 

Throughout it all I looked for practices that would help me recenter and refocus on what I was capable of doing against the sadness and frustration. I finally attended a Daybreaker event at the Kennedy Center, I got into a rhythm with exercise, I bought myself some fidget rocks after hearing and meditating with the incredible Seema Reza at a Creative Mornings. I looked for light where there was darkness, and found it in friendship and family but also in the quiet of the morning before the expectations of the world creeped in.

In the last days of August, a former colleague turned mindfulness guide took me and a group of friends on a walk through the Tregaron Conservancy in Washington, D.C. It is a practice I had wanted to do for a while and it seemed like the perfect way to mark this particular birthday. For about an hour we walked silently through the woods, stopping when prompted to consider the trees, the sounds, the smells.

At one point Susan had us take our hands and hold them up as if they were a picture frame through which to view the trees, asking us to describe what we saw in that small window before we opened it up to see a wider landscape. It was an exercise in perspective, forcing us to discern between what we saw in the narrow view versus a wider lens. To ask on the flip side, what did we miss when consolidating our view to that fixed point? 

In another exercise we closed our eyes for some time closing off one of our senses so we could focus on “seeing” the world through others. At the end of the prescribed period, we open them again examined how our view has changed. What did we see that we did not see before? How has our perception of the world changed?

These questions and these practices are the grounding for my intention in 2025. I’m not going to lie to myself. I know things are going to be hard. It is going to be very easy to fall into a world of outrage, panic, and fear. I will worry. These are feelings I will not be able to turn off.

But the key is to not let these emotions rule how I live. That there are strategies to manage my perspective in order to embrace a path forward and through. I can consider and reconsider what I am being told to manage my perception of the world, knowing only I can decide my values, and only I can make a plan for myself (note if you are struggling might I suggest this book?). 

In a lot of ways your ability to balance hinges on your perception, while taking a breath can shift your perspective when things seem the most bleak. One set of intentions flows naturally into the other. It isn’t one or the other, rather it is breath, balance, perspective, and perception all rolled into one.  

At the end of the year, I read an incredible book that explored in a different way the ideas around perspective and perception. In Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders Vanessa Angélica Villarreal writes:

“Poetry is the oral tradition, the performance of public memory. Poetry contains the cosmos of every creation myth, pulls dream-language from the collective unconscious, transmits rituals, customs, and tradition across generations, keeps records in the form of epics, fables, psalms. But it is in the performance of poetry that language becomes a living thing, charged with feeling, animated by body and breath, until that moment of recognition that plunges you into the strange truth of pure language that, for a split second, contains the memory of the world (287-288).” 

The entire work, but especially her chapter on prose and poetry helped me to consider another intention and promise for the year. When I feel overwhelmed, when I feel like I am forgetting where we are and who I am, I have promised myself to reach for poetry as a release valve. Poetry as a means of expression (without turning to social media) when I want to rage instead. Poetry a means and a space to capture the heat of memory without feeding actively into the noise. Poetry to keep me sane.

Rose Colored Glasses

This is not a poem of an optimist.
(Are you shocked?)
This is a verse for the world we are in right now.
Fom a newly minted realist,
Looking for the answer,
Any answer.

Does it help to say it is not fear, but worry?
A mix of matter and slurry?
A fetid sheen of oil
From Pandora’s box
Never to be closed again? 

And yet, rose colored glasses are not an option.
They do not change our perspective
Rather, drop a veil over our senses and
Manipulate perception
In which we choose to hide.

And yet I know—
or do I?

There is a way out of the darkness.
We have to open our eyes,
Change the frame,
Find the light,
Broaden our gaze.
For we are not in a singularity
But rather, a maze.

We just need to find the right way out.

Here is, as always, my annual list of things I read, experienced, listened, watched, and wrote in 2024.

2024 Book Census

In 2024, I read a total of 130 books for a total of 29,898 pages, 606.42 hours

• This past year I increased the number of nonfiction books I read bringing my ratio to 18% nonfiction to 82% fiction. Of those 17% were print, 46% were digital with 37% audio. 
• My audio book adventure focused mainly on series. I finally finished the Expanse, and found relaxation through Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series, Kate Khavari’s Saffron Everleigh mysteries, but in terms of story Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These was a wonder clocking in at a mere 1 hour 57 minutes and a reminder that the shortest and quiets stories can say so much more then books that have thousands of words or those that are florid in detail.
• This year I read 34 books that fall within the Romance/Rom Com/Light Fiction genre. Looking for suggestions? Might I recommend anything by Emily Henry, and Yulin Kuang’s surprising How to End a Love Story whose premise shouldn’t have worked but somehow just did. 

• This year I read about 30 books categorized primarily as mysteries. In addition to continuing my adventures with Lady Darby, Lady Sherlock, and Inspector Gamache I started a really fun series with female leads who are academics drawn into unexpected mysteries. I also was sad to say farewell to Maisie Dobbs in a retrospective mystery that was not nearly as good as the 17 books that preceded it but managed to remind us of all she has gone through since we first met her as a young woman before World War I. 
• About 26 books are Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Magical Realism. In addition to finishing the Expanse (it was good but I did at one point yell out “James freaking Holden” as we neared the end). I was really excited to read V.E. Schwab’s The Fragile Threads of Power which continues an already epic series, Goddess of the River by Vaishavi Patel a mythological story centered around the River and Goddess Ganga, and A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy which emphasized in a similar way as Keegan’s book how joy can come in small packages and also surprise you.
• 23 titles this year were nonfiction. I spent some time with the birds and nature (Amy Tan’s Backyard Bird Chronicles & The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl), learned about Chinatowns in books by Lisa See, and Curtis Chin. and read the words of faith leaders like Sharon Brous and Valerie Kaur. I dug into how habits are formed, tried to look at how technology like social media and AI have and will change our world, and heard about the life of women like Judy Dench and Souleka Jaouad. Every book taught me something and made me consider elements of the world from a new perspective. 
• As in years past I did a little demographic study of my reading and my usual disclaimer applies i.e. these are estimates only as I did not want to make assumptions about someone’s race or gender. I explored the work of 47 new authors out of a total of about 83 with the vast majority being female identifying or LGBTQ+.  Approximately 10 books had LGBTQ+ themes though many others had Queer or nonbinary characters, and by a rough count about 33% of my authors were persons from those often not well-represented in publishing (historically excluded communities and LGBTQ+). Higher than last year but still not good enough. I will say that I’m going to rethink the “demographics” next year so if you have ideas of a better way to measure inclusivity let me know!

Top 10ish Books (in no particular order)

1. A Psalm for the Wild Built & A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers: A lovely optimistic story of a world transformed. A non-dystopian forward looking future.
2. Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal: One of the best series of essays I have ever read. While largely based on theory, I have to say that when a book opens with the Migrant’s Journey superimposed over Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey you know you’re in the right place. Also her essay on Jon Snow and Game of Thrones as a metaphor for the border wall is brilliant.
3. The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher: I mean if you want to understand the real-world impact of Meta’s recent decision read this. It will scare you and also open your eyes.
4. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad: A moving and honest memoir of a woman who continues to battle leukemia, and continues to be an inspiration to others.
5. The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab: I have been waiting for this book forever. The entire series is great and I am so glad to see it continue (though I did stress out for my favorites who are not out of the woods yet).
6. Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel: I love the way Patel makes me want to dig more into my own faith traditions and mythology. This story is contained and yet expansive. Filled with heartache but also love.
7. Funny Story by Emily Henry: Emily Henry has become a must read. Everything she writes makes me happy.
8. Where We Belong by Madeline Sayet: I saw this play performed by the author this year. Its complexity and brilliance made me want to own it in text form. To hear me talk about how amazing this is read my essay in The Public Historian (linked below).
9. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan: Another small story with an extraordinary voice. Claire Keegan and Becky Chambers made me reconsider the way I approach the art and craft of writing fiction.
10. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Just a good time. The first book from the Year of Sanderson it is a welcome addition to the Cosmere.

Sidebar: This year I got to hear Sabaa Tahir speak in person which was remarkable in that she was also interviewed by the equally amazing Elizabeth Acevedo. This is one of my very favorite things I did this year and while Heir is sitting on my TBR pile taunting me I hope to get to it early in 2025. 

Sidebar 2: This list doesn’t account for the many essays and social pieces I read by Mo Husseini, Elad Nehorai, Rabbi Sharon Brous, and Valerie Kaur in order to make sense of the world.

Theatre 

In 2024 I attended ten different theatrical productions. The standouts were seeing Indira Varma (and Ralph Fiennes) in Macbeth, Madeline Sayet’s remarkable Where We Belong, and got to close out the year with Operation Mincemeat on the West End. While this is about half of what I saw in 2023 I love living in a town with high quality theatre and know I need to do better about seeing productions outside my normal theatres.

• Shakespeare Theatre Company: Lehman Trilogy, Macbeth, Matchbox Magic Flute, Comedy of Errors, Leopoldstadt, Babbitt 
• Signature: Private Jones
• Folger Shakespeare Theater: Where We Belong 
• West End: Operation Mincemeat

Experiences

I saw some pretty creative things this year. From an AR installation called the Hidden Wonders of the Ocean at Artechouse, to Jeffrey Yoo Warren’s Hidden Portals on Capitol Hill, the intersection of digital imaging, art, and sound to tell stories posed interesting questions about the use of technology in the art world.

• Artechouse DC: Isekai Blooming Parallel Worlds, Twilight Zone: Hidden Wonders of the Ocean
• Jeffrey Yoo Warren: Hidden Portals (click to watch my reel)
• Mercer Labs: Limitless 
• Kennedy Center: Dvořák Dreams: An Installation by Refik Anadol

I also had a solid live music year hearing John Legend, Rose Betts, and Sara Bareilles in person while nerding out to Rob Thomas and falling in love with Yasmin Williams’ exquisite guitar work.

Concerts: John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Rose Betts, Rob Thomas, Madison Cunningham, Yasmin Williams

From a museum standpoint I cannot recommend the new exhibit space at the Folger Shakespeare Library and Planet Word enough. And I fell in love (for the 200th time) with the remarkable work of Alma Thomas while loving the new installation from Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center called Sightlines.

I also want to call out two events I attended this year. The first is the Monument Lab Summit which I attended in July. This two-day experience was an inspiration in all the right ways and provided a much needed reminder about the ways public commemoration and art can make an impact in even the smallest ways…but also ghosts.

The second was the virtual session of Valerie Kaur’s Revolutionary Love Tour which in a spoken word concert combined the music of the Sikh faith and tradition while sharing the stories of the women who were a part of the building of the religion. The concert was followed by local guests who are practicing what Kaur calls “Revolutionary Love.” It was pretty powerful, and a reminder that we have much to offer the world if we treat each other with love and empathy.

Music

According to my year unwrapped on Spotify I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift (I spent some time early in the year going through her back catalog), but here are the songs and artists that I actually I turned to over and over again. This entire list was a departure from previous years where REM, U2, and Ed Sheeran dominated. 

1. “Take This Body Home” by Rose Betts
2. “Mon amour” by Silmane
3. The album “Acadia” by Yasmin Williams
4. The album “Cowboy Carter” by Beyonce
5. “Once Upon Another Time“ by Sara Bareilles
6. “Red Wine Supernova” Chappell Roan
7. “Royal We” and “Sunday Crossword” by Janani K. Jha
8. “LOVE” by John Legend
9. The “EPIC” Official Concept Album by Jorge Rivera-Herrrans (a musical concept album based on the Odyssey. 
10. “If We Were Vampires” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

A special shout out to Filoli’s podcast Morning in the Garden which brought me so much peace this year.

Movies/Television

My movie watching this year was severely limited, but of the few movies I saw in the theatre The Wild Robot and Wicked really stood out for me. Both had incredible cinematography with stories that packed a punch. I also really enjoyed the Holdovers which had strong Dead Poets Society vibes and really who can complain about the nostalgia that Twisters brought this summer.

It’s wild just how this is the second year in a row where my television tracking has just fallen apart. I started using an app but have forgotten to document what I watched. I also have an entire backlist of shows that I just never got to (i.e. how have I not watched Season 3 of The Bear yet?!). In the meantime, here are 5 things that stuck with me from my year in television. 

1. All of My Lady Jane (A show that should not have been cancelled but was), and Rings of Power (a show that apparently very few people like but I do?). 
2. Celine Dion at the Paris Olympics (if you have not seen I Am Celine Dion you can’t really understand how incredible this was). 
3. Eurovision: I was introduced to this spectacle and became a little obsessed with Silmane for a few months. 
4. One Day: This entire series was a gut punch with incredible performances
5. Throwbacks: While not really a moment, I watched old USA shows like Royal Pains, In Plain Sight, and Monk (though some of it does not hold up!). Superstore was a delight.

Writing

This year I spent a lot of time editing a very, very rough draft of my novel (if you can call it that), worked on the next book in the Chhaya Children Quartet, and had a review essay published in The Public Historian called “Moments of Connection: Theatre and History in Two Acts.” I am so incredibly proud of the virtual storytelling hub I produced for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s America’s Chinatowns Initiative. You can see some of it in stories listed below or visit the full hub on Google Arts & Culture.

Clockwise from top right: A view of the landscape at Antelope Island in Salt Lake City, Utah. Postcards from the walking tour I took in Philadelphia during the Monument Lab Summit, a reading I gave at Politics and Prose for my new book, and me sitting in one of the history classrooms at William and Mary as we marked my 20th reunion where I also got to visit the Bray School in its new location.


…this is what comes next

• Ghosts for a Future We Do Not Yet Know (Vote, AND)
• 10 Things I Learned about Leadership from the NCPH Board
• 2024: Breath & Balance

SavingPlaces.org

• Something for Everyone: A Conversation with Lyndhurst’s Howard Zar
• A Place to Gather, Discover, and Grow: A Conversation with The Pocantico Center’s Judy Clark
• How Do You Set Your Table?
• A Recipe for Preservation
• See Much Further at Belle Grove Plantation: A Conversation with Kristen Laise
• Five Objects That Make You Consider the Great Beyond
• The Woodrow Wilson House: A Conversation with Elizabeth Karcher
• The Tenement Museum: A Q&A with Annie Polland
• The 710 Freeway: The Injunction that Made a Difference, 25 Years Later
• Carter Hudgins on an Accurate, Authentic, and Truthful Drayton Hall
• Preserving Sitka’s Clan Houses
• Celebrate the Fourth of July with Stories from Across the United States
• Kevin Kuharic on the Authentic, Inspiring, and Inclusionary Hotel de Paris Museum
• Finding Black Joy in the Power of Place
• Exploring the Walled Garden at Oatlands
• Humble, Consequential, and Emotive President Lincoln’s Cottage: A Q&A with Callie Hawkins
• Welcome to America’s Chinatowns: The Advocates
• Welcome to America’s Chinatown
• Welcome to America’s Chinatowns: The Storytellers
• Welcome to America’s Chinatowns: The Artists
• Public Lives and Private Spaces: Restoring Philip Johnson’s Brick House
• A Home Full of Art and Antiquities: Jane Lewis on Villa Finale
• Forward Momentum: Updates for 8 Previously Listed 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
• Kirsten Reoch: Innovation and Complexity at The Glass House
• 9 Preservationists Share Their Resolutions for 2024