I’ve spent the first part of my early morning enjoying the brilliance of Maggie O’Farrell through her lovely novel Hamnet, and it’s set aglow the warm places in my chest, and it’s from here that I want to send you my love and well wishes as we crawl or jog or leap into new beginnings.
You won’t hear from me about how terrible it is out there right now. There’s enough of that going around. Sure, things could be better, but I have little time for anxiety and fear—certainly none for hatred. There’s too much good to chase, to be done, to be created, in what little time we have.
It’s a wonderful time to be a creator—perhaps the best in history!—just as it is to be a fan, a supporter, a curator of creative output. The juices are flowing, amigos!!!! If you close your eyes and let go of your worries and all the noise and listen and feel—really feel, you might sense that river of creativity and beauty rushing through you.
I feel so blessed to live in a world where Yo-Yo Ma and Bela Fleck and The Cure and Pat Metheny can exist with my new favorite band, Geese. Their album, Getting Killed, might not be for everyone (my wife can’t stand Geese), but it has devoured me this year. Cameron Winters is creating from the absolute core of the divine. And I’m so flipping excited that there are people on Substack with magic ears and a desperate love of music, like Jacqui Devaney and Marc Myers and Stephan Kunze, who lead me to new aural frontiers. They set the stage for my own creativity, as I write best when good music plays loudly through my headphones.
I’m so fortunate to inhabit a world where I can choose to read Maggie O’Farrell, or Tamara, or Anthony Horowitz, or Kevin Kermes when I wake. Or Chris Whitaker, Jess Walters, Wally Lamb, V.E. Schwab, Claire North, EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL!
Frank Conroy’s Body & Soul came into my life this year, by way of a former high school teacher at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee called Tom Gladstone, who stoked my love for music and the written word when I was still trying to find my way as a lost seventeen year old who’d been booted out of another school for leaning a hair too far into vive la résistance. (Maybe I’ll tell you that story over a glass of gamay one day; you’ll have to come find me in Maine.) Though it was published long ago, Body & Soul will always stand at the top of the art I discovered in 2025. I’m not sure I’ll ever experience something else so profound. Every sentence dazzles.
Another book that hit me hard was Dr. James Doty’s Mind Magic. It’s a tragedy that we lost him this year, but his message lives on. I’ll share with you one of my favorite lines from his book, the lesson that took him sixty-plus years to learn:
Only when we believe we are enough in ourselves do we find the ability to contribute to life, but only in contributing to our world do we discover we are inherently enough.
How is it even possible that humans can create epic movies like One Battle After Another and Jay Kelly? Especially in a time when it’s hard to get movies made. Don’t even get me started on Task from HBO. That show shattered me, tore me apart. I’m only now sleeping okay again. But I’m also still caught up in its spell, as Task was such a mind-bending feat of storytelling. Find me a television series that does a better job at building out each character and creating empathy.
I can’t avoid mentioning Taylor Sheridan too. I love that we live in a time where he can keeping making whatever the hell he wants to. Oh, and let’s not forget the production company, A24, who has the Midas Touch when it comes to the camera. If you haven’t seen Past Lives yet, what are you still doing here? I’ll happily consume whatever they put on the screen. And Stranger Things! Give me, give me, give me! Soooo good!
I am beyond grateful that I’m allowed to partake in this creative energy that exists right now. How is it that little ol’ boo walker from Spartanburg, South Carolina can be living this life, writing stories for a living, being supported by a wonderful agent and publisher who believe in him, a readership who will go almost anywhere with him, and friends and family who embrace even the worst parts of him, while taking it all in with the woman of his dreams and a child that fills every corner of every cell of his existence with hope and joy and love?
I’m thankful that YOU are here, reading my words, partaking in all this lovely energy too. And I hope with all of me that you’re finding the light in the darkness, the glittery specks of awe that flash when we’re open to seeing them. If you’re not already there, I hope you’re on your way to finding exactly what it is you’re supposed to be doing here on this big bright blue ball.
I’m getting closer. I’m shedding more and more of my ego. I’m creating art that is unfiltered, that’s soul deep, that is exactly and only and truly me, while at the same time, I’m determined to make all of it—my writing, my living—less about me, hoping that I might simply serve as a creative vessel, a mere literary garden hose pointed toward my screen.
And my desire, as we step forward into the unknown of a new year, is that I may shine my light brighter, that I may open my heart wider, that I might create something new that makes a difference to someone out there, even if that’s simply to give them a brief respite from what hurts.
If you have a moment, tell us about yourself in the comments section. It’s time to start building this community of artists and art lovers. Who are you? What are you trying to do? And what can I do for you in the coming year here on Substack? What topics can I cover? What fears of mine or yours can I explore?
I’m eager to get started.
But for now, I’m signing off from 2025 and going to put all I have into my family and our little extraordinary life.
Peace and love and gratitude to you,
boo
