December 2025 Newsletter

From Dan, Your Friend and Tender Soul

Dear Friends,

December always arrives carrying both momentum and reflection, and this year it arrived quickly, didn't it? My Newsletter 2025 Wrapped was released under the assumption that I wouldn’t finish my Empathy paper in time. In retrospect, that paper has turned out to be the uncontested winner of the “critically acclaimed” category (by all of you). The tidal wave of thoughtful, kind feedback I received was genuinely incredible. Thank you to everyone who read it with care.

In the spirit of that paper, I want to share something here.

While writing about empathy, I came to understand something important about myself: I’ve often minimized or quietly withheld my own experiences, not because they lacked importance, but because I don’t naturally register that others might feel them. Since I don’t experience emotional resonance the way many people do, it took time to recognize that sharing something difficult could matter to others, or invite care in ways I don’t intuitively anticipate.

Fig. 15.1: Nora comfortably resting at Ruby Kurosawa's feet.

Recently, my cat Nora passed away. She was with us for a long time, and she’s been part of this newsletter from the very beginning. I’m sharing an old photo of her here, from when she was younger, laying on an anime pillow. Fig. 15.1 was one of the very first pictures I ever posted of her, back when I still used Instagram.

I don’t use social media anymore, but this newsletter has become my place to document life as it unfolds, including moments like this. I’m grateful that over the last year and a half of writing, I shared so many good images and small memories of her along the way.

This isn’t me asking for anything specific. It’s simply me choosing not to quietly minimize something meaningful. If you feel something reading this, I want to respect that... even if my own way of feeling and sharing looks a little different. This may not be the typical format in which sad news is shared, nor am I especially practiced in sharing it in the usual ways. But as an audience who were fans of Nora, even just through the newsletter, I felt you should know.

I’m nearly out of space for this shorter format (though my longer formats can go on for pages and pages, to the delight of my most experienced and dedicated readers), but the rest of December unfolded much as you’d expect: absolute madness for Finals (though it was my students that had finals) and then Christmas (Fig. 15.2).

Fig. 15.2: Christmas at Church with my family!

I also made a conscious effort this month to unplug. I stepped back from technology, put on good music (of course), and spent long, quiet stretches building LEGO... Some official kits, some custom (Fig. 15.3). It felt playful, focused, and restorative in a way I didn’t realize I’d needed.

Fig. 15.3: Daisy and Annie, my OCs as custom LEGO characters, enjoying a peaceful day in the park.

I deeply enjoy the Christmas season. Between house sitting in Fig. 15.4 (shocking, I know), sweet treats, and the joy of giving gifts, the holiday was a perfect way to wrap up an incredible year.

Fig. 15.4: House sitting once again, ending the year surrounded by familiar routines and good animals.

More than anything, I’m grateful that you are all part of this by reading, reflecting, and sharing the year with me in your own ways.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Dan