Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025! 🎉

Reflections, Goals & Upcoming Plans

Happy New Year, Everyone!

There’s something magical about the start of a new year. It’s a time that feels fresh, exciting, and full of possibilities. Every New Year’s Eve, I carve out time to reflect on the past year: the highs, the lows, and everything in between. It’s a chance to take time and appreciate the year that’s passed.

What excites me most about this time of year is setting new goals and dreaming up fresh opportunities to pursue. There’s nothing more exciting to me than planning for the future and taking steps toward making those dreams a reality.

Reflections

Before sharing what those goals are for me in 2025, I’d like to reflect a bit on the past year and review some fun things I got up to:

Travelled to South Carolina: I was lucky enough to fly out to South Carolina to visit my parents. We stayed in Murrells Inlet, which is a beautiful little beach town not far from Myrtle Beach. While it was too cold for swimming, we made the most of it with daily beach walks, seashell collecting, dolphin sightings, and indulging in all the delicious seafood. It was a wonderful mini-trip that has left me wanting to return ASAP!

Adopted the Best Kitten in the World: If you follow me over on Instagram, then you’ve probably already been subjected to my endless cat photo spam! Back in May, we adopted a kitten from our local humane society, and he’s been the light of our life ever since. I’ll admit, I wasn’t much of a cat person before adopting this little guy, but now, I’m absolutely obsessed! He’s brought us so much joy and I think it’s fair to say that he’s certainly the highlight of our 2024.

Attended Some Fun Events: From FanExpo Canada to local Disney Pin Trading & Collectible shows, I got the chance to attend some pretty great fan events this year. I love being able to immerse myself in these communities and connect with others who share the same passions as I do!

Prioritized Self-Care: One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 was to focus on making time for relaxation and fun. Balancing a full-time job along with my research projects has been challenging, and so I knew it was important for me to make self-care a priority. I joined a curling league, played some golf, attended highland dance classes, and made sure to carve out time for things like reading, bubble baths, and playing video games. This shift was a real game-changer for me, as its made me feel much more refreshed and productive because of it!

Made Strides in Disney History Research: 2024 was the year I finally took the leap with my passion for Disney history. I spent the year doing my own original research, connecting with historians, conducting interviews, and I topped it all off by finally launching my Substack publication, Figment Archives! It took me a while to find my footing, but I finally feel like I’ve built a strong foundation for myself to start diving deeper into this passion in 2025.

2024 was a very transformative year for me, filled with taking chances and fully embracing my passions. It’s been a journey of self-discovery that’s allowed me to focus on what truly makes me thrive. I’m grateful for all the opportunities that have helped me get to this wonderful, happy place!

Goals

Building off of this foundation, my focus for 2025 is all about creating sustainability, which means finding ways to continue pursuing my passion projects, while maintaining balance and joy in my life. With that in mind, here are some of my goals for the year ahead:

Disney Research Goals: In 2024, I discovered a research topic that brings together all of my favourite things: I love Disney, libraries, history and research, so exploring the history behind The Walt Disney Studio Library really feels like a topic that was meant for me. My goal for 2025 is to continue building on this work, making connections with former employees and other historians who may be able to provide valuable insights. I already have a few leads to follow up on in January, and I’m excited to see where the research takes me next! You may be wondering, what’s the ultimate goal for all this research? My dream is to one day write a book about this special little library, or maybe even a broader book about the libraries and archives within the Disney company. While I’m not entirely sure what this will materialize into, writing a book is definitely what I’m working towards. A big dream, but one that I hope will someday come true!

Figment Archives Goals: This specific post marks my first official publication for Figment Archives, and while I’m just getting started with this exciting new project, I already have some goals in mind for it. As I shared back in December, my plan is to send out publications twice a month. One post will feature updates and behind-the-scenes content, while the other will be more of an essay-style, focusing on specific topics within Disney history. I was actually once an avid blogger, so launching this Substack feels quite nostalgic as I sort of return to these creative roots. It reminds me of why I fell in love with blogging in the first place! I can’t wait to share all kinds of fascinating content with you all through this new platform.

Social Media Goals: I wouldn’t say I’m terrible at social media, but I certainly wouldn’t call myself an expert either. There’s so much to consider—algorithms, posting schedules, trends, managing multiple platforms—the list feels endless. At one point, I tried to master it all, but it quickly became too overwhelming, and so I took a step back to reassess things. Last year, I decided to simplify it all and I chose to focus on just one platform that I enjoy: Instagram. While my account isn’t growing the way it used to, I’ve always loved sharing photos, posting stories, and connecting with others through the comments and direct messages. What Instagram has given me, more than any other platform out there, is the ability to genuinely connect with others within the Disney community. That sense of connection alone is why I’ve chosen to stick with it, regardless of the numbers. In 2024, I stopped worrying about algorithms and I started posting content I actually enjoyed creating. That shift brought back some of the joy of sharing for me. However, I do still believe consistency is important, no matter the platform or medium, so for 2025, my social media goals are centred around consistency. I plan to post at least two times a week, along with one reel weekly or biweekly. Reels are new territory for me, so I’m still figuring out what works best , but I’m excited to start experimenting!

Collection Goals: Another goal I have set for myself this year is to continue growing my Disney resource collection thoughtfully and intentionally. A big focus will be on gradually acquiring the entire Walt’s People series. Since purchasing all of the volumes at once isn’t realistic for me, I plan on buying one book from the series each month. Additionally, I’d like to add one other Disney history book monthly, both for personal enjoyment and research purposes. Along the way, I’ll also be on the lookout for other treasures to add to the collection, like additional books, magazines, maps, or any other unique Disney memorabilia that I may come across. I’m also aiming to improve how I organize and maintain my collection. Last year, I started cataloging my resources using Libib to create a searchable database for myself. While it’s been an incredibly helpful tool, I’ve fallen behind in keeping things up to date. This year, I plan on getting everything updated, and staying on top of adding new materials.

Just for Fun Goal: This goal is one I’ve always wanted to do, but have never made the time to do it, until now! While I’ve seen many of Disney’s animated classics, I’ve never watched them all, let alone in order of release. So this year, I’m setting myself this fun and ambitious goal of watching every Disney animated film ever made, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and working my way through the decades. I think watching them chronologically will give me a unique perspective on how Disney’s animation style, storytelling, and technology has evolved over the years. Since my research on the Disney Studio Library also follows a chronological timeframe, watching these films may offer some insights on some of the animation projects the library would have assisted with back in the day. Overall, I’m excited to revisit old favourites, as well as finally checking off some titles I’ve never seen before!

Upcoming Plans

While unexpected opportunities can always pop up at any given time, I currently have just one confirmed plan so far for this year and that’s my trip to Florida in March. I’ll be visiting my snowbird parents again for just under a week, and though it’s a short stay, it’s already shaping up to be packed with many exciting activities! I’ll be sharing more details about this trip in my March update. I honestly can’t wait to head back down south and return to the most magical place on Earth!

Until Next Time

That wraps up this month’s update! If you enjoyed reading my January update, I’d love for you to consider subscribing to Figment Archives so you can receive my next publication straight to your inbox.

Coming up in my next publication, I’ll be diving into the fascinating details behind the Voyageurs’ Lounge at Disney’s Riviera Resort in Walt Disney World. Spoiler alert: it’s tied to my research on the Disney Studio Library and holds more history than you might expect!

Until next time, wishing you all a magical day!