Month-in-Review Highlights: November 2025

A view from the Vidy lakefront over Lake Geneva. Lausanne, Switzerland. November 23, 2025.

I postmortem each month shortly after it ends. Previously, I used these posts to hold myself accountable on progress toward my annual goals. Starting in January 2023, I broadened these posts to address more generally my observations and experiences for the month. (To read previous months’ reviews, click here.)

When I think through what to write here each month, I use the calendar to remember the month’s flow. What struck me the most about November 2025 its speed in passing. I would have sworn the first week of the month’s activities had happened only yesterday.

Fast though it went, I made the most of the month, particularly when it came to my fiction. As I’ve mentioned in my last two monthly write-ups, I’ve put intense focus on my fiction this autumn. November no exception.

I’d like to get my current novel project to a milestone point by the end of the year. For that to happen, I need to buckle down. And I have! So far, I’m on track to meet the goal, but we’ll see what December brings. With my fiction projects, I have the constant impression that, at any moment, I might discover that every word and even foundational idea doesn’t work.

Though prioritizing writing meant I spent a lot of time at my computer in November, I didn’t let the work ground me completely. I had a wonderful lunch with one good friend and a really nice moment over tea with another, and I met someone who found me through this blog for tea at even yet another point. Each time I wonder if all the time I spend on this blog makes any sense given all the other things I have on my plate, a wonderful moment like that one comes along to keep me going.

In addition, I went one town over to the Musée d’Art de Pully to see an exhibition of Swiss female painters one afternoon. So much beautiful art, and all from artists I hadn’t known before! My life feels so much richer when each month has a cultural experience in it.

And finally, as Novembers do for people from the United States, the month wound down with Thanksgiving weekend. Though the holiday doesn’t happen here in Europe, I nevertheless spend time each Thanksgiving reflecting on my life and all the amazing people and moments it has brought me. If you’re reading this, you’re one of them. Thank you.