DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2025

Dec 21, 2025
3 min read

Apologies for my tardiness, I’ve been visiting my parents for the past few weeks and decided to drive down to Austin yesterday, from Fort Worth to spend a few days in my future hometown, also had some Hilton points to burn. I’m writing from my hotel room while Nike naps from our long morning walk along Lady Bird Lake. The Sun is shining through the cloudsand the temperature is unseasonably warm – 77 degrees and I’m not complaining.

Aside from being off my regular routine due to travel, I also just really don’t know what to write. So I’ll just share a bit of where I’ve been, and see if that leads me to a point that means something meaningful.

Since October I’ve been away from home a lot: San Jose with some friends, then Fort Worth with my parents, then DC for work and more friends, then Virginia for friends and cousins, then back home in LA for two weeks, and back to Fort Worth. All that movement would usually make me irritable but something about being with the people you love makes being on the go feel still. Being with the people you love makes life feel still, still and full, like the aftermath of eating a big delicious meal. The kinda stillness that isn’t afraid of boredom and the kinda fullness that doesn’t take up space. And maybe that’s the meaningful note I needed to get to.

I always write about being still and resting during the Winter, drawing comparisons to nature. How being dormant is a necessity to come alive in the Spring, and further thrive in the Summer. Winter is the season where we find ourselves most tired, from all the energy of the year that’s passed, yet somehow a lot of us still don’t give ourselves permission to just rest, to shut it all down, to cool off and lay low, to take naps and move slow. And maybe it’s not that we don’t give ourselves permission, maybe it’s that we just don’t know how to turn it all off, to do nothing, and be ok in that, to not be productive, and be guilt-free.

Yesterday was the first day of Winter for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first day of Summer for those in the Southern. Last season I offered us the phrase: “be a student of your own life” – take a minute and write down somethings you learned about yourself (feel free to share in the comments).

For me, one of the things I learned about myself was that I can choose to not be bothered when something or someone irritates me. I can acknowledge my inner feelings without exhibiting them outside of my body. I’m excited about this self-discovery and though I don’t do it right all the time, it’s a practice and it’s made me feel very empowered and a sense of safety that I’ve given myself. Safety that feels like me holding my own hand and telling myself I’ve got us.

2 + 0 + 2 + 5 = 9

Nine represents completion, endingsfor new beginnings, accomplishment, etc. And this year has proven to be one with lots of endings, from hard breakups and devastating wildfires to sudden deaths and dehumanizing politics, just a lot of shit. But I do believe that it’s darkest before the dawn, things fall apart for other things to come together, and rock bottom means only up from here (we’ll see).

This is the final newsletter of 2025, and to recap what we’ve done collectively:

-In the Spring we released grip on resistance and started using resilience as a tool.

-In the Summer we practiced consistency which built habits and discovered confidence which built belief.

-In the Fall we were students of our own lives.

So now with loose grips, resilient tools, consistent habits, confident beliefs, and self-discovery, let’s settle into Winterwith stillness like we’re not afraid ofboredom.

Wishing you all the best, and Happy New Year!

All Love,

Assia

Keep scrolling for updates from my shop, what I'm currently reading, and what album has been on repeat.

SHOP BOOKS

SEPARATEBUTEQUAL 51 out of 100 copies left

DESERT DREAMING 80 out of 100 copies left

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 60 out of 100 copies left

EXCLUSIVITY 65 out of 250 copies left

I AM NOT A POET 42 out of 250 copies left

SHOP MERCH

"SEPARATEBUTEQUAL" APPAREL AVAILABLE UNTIL 12.31.2025