I began the practice of picking an annual keyword as I was leaving music school and starting my artistic career. It’s hard to believe that I am now selecting my 16th one.

For me, keywords take the place of resolutions because they connect to other words and other ideas in both direct and more organic ways. These connections — how they show up and link up — feel a lot like how I improvise. 

Last year’s word was WONDER. I chose it because I hoped to spend the year investigating my artistic ideas and appreciating the beauty of the journey to those discoveries. 

Then in May, I received an invitation to take part in a performing arts fellowship called Naked Stages. Naked Stages is program originated to help emerging artists (2-10 years of creating original generative work) to create a solo piece from conception through on-stage performance. With the support of the fellowship events and activities (workshops, a conference, work in progress sessions etc.), I created a solo show combining my prose, songs and place-making practices. 

…

I’ll readily admit to spending a healthy chunk of 2024 wondering how to make a theatrical solo performance.😉 In the final program evaluation, I remarked that I often arrived to work sessions feeling like I hadn’t done my homework. But as each deadline arrived, I discovered I was able to create something. And, in hindsight, I can see that I simply decided that I would decide rather than asking someone else — program staff, my artist cohort — for answers. In fact, even though sometimes I kind of hoped someone would tell me how to create my show, I never asked anyone to tell me how.

Because I knew it needed to be my show.

As an improviser, I practice (and practice) trusting my intuition and this fellowship was all about exploring my own artistic process(es). And since at the heart of the project, I had to create a performance, I realized that I have been developing (and am developing) a multi-disciplinary praxis to do just that for quite some time.

For example, I knew I wanted the piece to include new songs/music so I returned to my 30 Days of Songtaneous Songs project to encourage musical/melodic ideas. September’s 30 Days sparked the gathering songs I incorporated into my show. 

The year before, I’d begun some visual art practices (no one was/is more surprised than I), such as collaging and assembling what my friend LN calls “emotional terrariums” that helped me uncover parts of the my performance piece, including much of my “set design.”  (Note: my stage is not at all naked. 🤷🏽‍♀️😉)

Recently, these visual undertakings have stimulated my curiosity about graphic scores and other approaches to improvised compositions. 

I guess even this blog could be considered part of my artistic praxis.

Hmm … was praxis my word for 2025? 🤔

…

As is pretty common, I thought about (and discarded) a number of words for 2025. I usually begin contemplating in December and friends & family share ideas for their words, which inspires a list of words like …

• action (too demanding)
• witness (not active enough)
• momentum (not focused enough)
• praxis (been there, done that?),
• compose (I have some music-making projects planned this year … )
• peace (“what the world needs now … ?”)

And then, as sometimes happens, a word simply … arrives.

Okay, technically, I was reviewing my keywords posts from years past and came upon a list of words I’d included to try to inspire others and ended up inspiring myself.🤷🏽‍♀️😉 In that list was this year’s keyword, and, as my friend M says, when you know, you know. (Ya know?) 

That’s what happened this time.

My keyword for 2025 is …

TRUST.

(Oof.)

Because TRUST feels hard and challenging and maybe even wrong or gullible, but simultaneously important and necessary as I/we approach the coming year and grapple with all the terrors  and consequences of the preceding ones. 

But … (So?)

I need to trust in my art-making and its importance, trust in my collaborators and our collaborations, and most important, trust in the goodwill of others and our ability to find ways forward that serve, care for, and elevate everybody. 

Finally, as I learn from improvising again and again (and again and again and again and again), TRUST that there is a way forward that we can – and might only – find when we listen with our heads and our hearts.