Slowly Re-Emerging: My To-Want List for the Rest of 2025

Did autumn take you by surprise this year as much as it did me?
One minute it was still warm and summery, and the next day the leaves were changing colour. Crazy, isn't it?

But when Judith Peters calls for Blogtoberfest, there's no denying that the year is coming to an end. As last year, the theme is a to-want list for the last quarter. It's not about to-dos, but about small and big things you still want to experience – a kind of wish list with the firm intention of actually doing them.

I took part last year too. I actually managed to tick off quite a few items. I've caught up on some of the ones that were left open this year, while others remain on the list – but that doesn't mean I'm losing sight of them.
And because it really spurred me on, I'm taking part again this year.

My To-Want List for 2025

However, this year has been really strange for me. It's been like wading through waist-high water against the current. Nothing that knocked me over, but it definitely slowed me down. And then a few weeks ago, it finally caught up with me.
My overarching ‘goal’ for the rest of the year is therefore to find myself again. In some ways, it's more about starting than finishing. So please be forgiving if not all the points can be ticked off at the end.

These are my wishes for the rest of the year:

1. Seeing the colours on a walk, even when the day is grey.
2. Spending a whole day in my pyjamas, with tea and a book.
3. Try out the new paper I bought in September.
4. Redesign my studio. Last year, I had planned to renovate it. I haven't got around to it yet, and I won't be able to do it by the end of the year. That remains on my list for next year. But I can make a few changes so that I feel more comfortable again.
5. Be amazed again: by colour, light, a detail…
6. Spend a weekend completely offline.
7. See an original Max Liebermann again, for example, at the Frieda Burda Museum in Baden-Baden.
8. Start putting the ideas that are floating around in my head for two new art series down on paper.
9. Do something for the first time. Maybe something that requires me to muster up some courage or step out of my comfort zone. Maybe something I haven't had the opportunity to do before.
10. Spend an evening listening to music that moves me.
11. Leaf through old sketches.
12. Write a letter to myself.
13. Sit in a street café and watch the people passing by.
14. Take a different route for a change. Maybe just two streets further, but with an open mind.
15. Watch the sky until the colour changes.
16. Put on something nice, even if no one can see me.
17. Snuggle up with Stefan under blankets and watch an old film.
18. Resume our Sunday ritual. Browse through the book What Great Paintings Say* over breakfast and learn more about one of the works in it. We've lost a little time for this in our everyday lives. We're getting it back.
19. Try out a new colour or an unusual material.
20. Stroll through the Christmas market in Münster.
21. Watching the light as it falls through the curtains in the morning.
22. Allowing silence. Just now and then. No music, no podcasts, no noise.
23. Observing myself kindly. Not judging myself when things don't go well or I fall back into old patterns.
24. Spending time with people who are good for me.
25. Saying thank you to the people who support me and carry me when I can't do it myself.

*Affiliate link. If you order something through this link, you will be supporting my work at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

So, there it is, my list.
It's more of a little reminder to myself to be good to myself and gather strength. Just writing it down feels like a first step back to myself.
And you – what do you want to do for yourself this year?