Time[less]
A Reflection on the Ways We Spend Our Days in 2025 and Beyond
2025.
Here we stand (or perhaps slump in exhaustion) at the end of another year of time that we have been gifted in this life.
Some of you have been along for the ride of my somewhat sporadic blog posts this year, when inspiration and capacity to write have collided. Others may be here because you received my family’s Christmas card in the mail and noted this website at the bottom (and maybe you didn’t even know that I have spent years documenting my perspectives here on this corner of the internet). Either way, I am so glad you stopped by to sit and read for a moment and to offer me one of your most precious gifts…time.
Time with my family continues to be my life’s greatest joy. Four years ago, my husband and I made some career decisions that gave us more of our most precious gift: time together. Some of those decisions came unexpectedly, as pandemic-era remote work opportunities suddenly became possible. His work commute changed from 2 hours round-trip to 2 minutes across the house. My flexible work opportunities blossomed outside of the hospital where I had clocked in and out for many years. Two years ago, we bought a home on a few acres just outside the hustle of our bustling little college town. This year, we transferred our kids to a rural school in the nearby neighboring town. Our school drop-off involves the sunrise over cow pastures and not a single stoplight - and our kids have 4-day school weeks for the Spring semester, which makes space for more upcoming family adventures.
Despite our slower life rhythm, we still have very full lives. Our girls (7, 9, and 11) are very much into softball, flag football, and dance. My husband and I have coached their teams and also played in a league of our own. We still have work deadlines and house projects and never-ending laundry...and a yard that takes 10 times longer to mow than our previous one. But we have slowly and steadily built a life where we aren’t constantly counting the hours until the end of the workday or the number of days until the weekend.
Time is such a gift, and it is one we will never get back.
In 2025, I said yes to time that mattered, and it gave me more joy than expected.
That included hours in the pool this summer, where I rediscovered a love for lap swimming, my very first childhood sport. The time spent in the water not only improved my strength, but it provided mental clarity and brought much-needed peace in the midst of a chaotic world. Slowly, I worked my way up from nothing to a 41-lap swim on my 41st birthday. Time invested in your health is time well spent.
2025 also included building a relationship with a new immigrant in our community…a relationship that led to the extraordinary moment of holding her newborn baby, whom she named after me. We spent time navigating the healthcare system during her pregnancy, learning about each other’s cultures, and growing a genuine friendship. Time invested in your neighbors is time well spent.
Another meaningful investment came through a new volunteer role, where I help connect community resources with children in foster care and families in crisis. In a world that often feels overwhelming (and where it’s hard to know how to make a real difference) this work has quietly restored my faith in humanity. Time invested in your community is time well spent.
Time is, after all, how we spend our days…and therefore, how we spend our lives. In 2025, it became impossible to ignore that the way we spend our lives is never just personal; it is deeply connected to those around us.
This year, we spent a lot of time collectively in grief and shock and horror as we watched our country’s leaders dehumanize entire groups of people. We spent too much time watching strangers argue on the internet. We spent time on the phone with our elected officials, time advocating for the preservation of history and education and science. We spent time demanding to treat humans with dignity and time loving our neighbors. We spent time in meaningful conversations around tables and time in constant prayer.
And now, as we celebrate this holiday season, it is time.
It is time to be the people who use our greatest resources for the greatest good. It is time to see the people around us as humans who are worthy of dignity, respect, and love, no matter our differences.
It is time to not only speak of the peace, love, and joy of Christmas, but to let the wonders of His love truly transform the way we see each other and the way we move in the world.
Thank you for sharing your time with me. May we finish 2025 and enter into the new year in ways that are truly time(less),
Leigh