Umbresence
The echo of 2025
I learned a new word this year: umbresence.
It’s not absence. It’s not presence. It’s the shadow of presence. The way something lingers even when it’s not actively happening. You feel it when someone leaves the room. You feel it after a choice you’ve already made, even while you’re still pretending you haven’t. Umbresence is what remains.
And if I’m honest, this year wasn’t defined by the loud moments. It was defined by the quiet ones that stuck.
Umbresence in creative work
When I think about being a creative entrepreneur, it doesn’t feel noble or dramatic. Bookings, relationship building, classes and coaching…all of that is great, right? But it’s the repetition that really moved the needle:
The emails I sent that didn’t get answered but changed how I wrote the next one.
The auditions that didn’t book but sharpened my instincts.
The boundaries I fucking finally enforced altered how people treated me going forward.
That’s umbresence. The effort that leaves a residue…even when the outcome didn’t look like a “win.” And I don’t wanna work blue, but my year is residue-y AF.
Umbresence vs. visibility
We’ve been trained to measure success by what’s visible:
Numbers and data. (I’m BIG on this one)
Announcements.
Receipts.
But the most important work you did this year might never make a post. AND THAT IS OK. It’s still just as important or worthy or whatever qualifer you wanna add to it.
It might be:
the project you didn’t quit
the bad habit you finally noticed and then changed
the standard you raised quietly
the lie you stopped telling yourself
the savings account you started which is dedicated to voiceover
the microhabits you’ve made your routine
Those things don’t disappear just because they’re not flashy. They stay with you. Hello, umbresence.
The Middle is full of it
If you’re in the Middle of your career…you are swimming in umbresence.
You’re carrying:
accumulated skill
accumulated frustration
accumulated discernment
This is why the middle feels heavy because you’re holding a SHIT TON more than you used to. And I know we don’t like to talk about weight, but this poundage means something.
Instead of asking yourself:
“What did I accomplish this year?”
Try asking:
“What is still with me from this year?”
What habits stayed? What lessons refuse to leave? What standards can no longer be lowered? That’s the inventory that actually matters. For me, one of the biggest lessons I learned this year was that not everyone who stumbles across your social media and sees one video of yours is gonna “get” you. And now each time I post, I think of that—that this might be the first and LAST time someone sees me here so what’s the message gonna be? How will this represent me? Who is this for?
Taking umbresence into 2026
This is the time where we start thinking about new goals. And I want you to. But I want you to think more about continuity. Carry forward what lingered for a reason.
Release what only existed out of fear or momentum. Trust that the work you did, even quietly, left its mark. Because it did.
So here it is, folks. Your last challenge of 2025.
The Umbresence Reset
So I wanna be clear, this is NOT about momentum. It’s about recognition. You’re NOT preparing for January you’re accounting for what’s already here.
Day 1 (Today): What stayed
Write down 5 things from this year that are still with you.
Not wins or failures. The residue, baby.
These might be:
a boundary you no longer cross
a habit you default to now
a truth you can’t unsee
a skill that you sharpened
If it changed how you operate, it counts.
Day 2 (The 30th): What weighs vs. what supports
Look at yesterday’s list and label each item:
Carry → it supports you, even if it’s heavy
Release → it lingers, but no longer serves
Then answer this in writing:
“The thing I am done tolerating is __________.”
That sentence alone can reset a year. The key word here is “tolerating”. We tolerate SO MUCH STUFF it’s not even funny. We TOLERATE it because we feel like we have to. Because we think it’s easier. Because we don’t want to offend. That’s all fucking stopping NOW. Name it. Be done with it.
Day 3 (The 31st): What moves forward
Choose one thing from the list that earned its place.
Write:
Why it stays
What it protects
What it makes easier next year
End by finishing this sentence:
“I am not starting from zero because __________.”
Save that line. That’s your actual starting point. The thing I learned from wirting this whole thing is that umbresence doesn’t require action plans. It just requires acknowledgment which can be true of SO MANY THINGS IN OUR LIVES. Because acknowledgment changes how you move whether you mean to or not.
Finally, this is all a massive walkaround to say thank you. Thank you to you all who read my posts. Participated in challenges. Wrote to me privately. Commented publicly. Supported me. Pointed out my flaws. Protected me. Thank you. I can’t wait to come back in 2026.
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I did not arrive loudly. I arrived repeatedly. In small choices. In unfinished sentences. In the days I stayed. I learned what effort sounds like when no one is listening. I learned what leaving costs. Some things worked. Some things stayed anyway. I am not new. I am not done. I am carrying what remains and that is enough.