NOT SORRY WE'RE CLOSED | 2025 /CW REFLECTION
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Some. Not all of it.
When? Now. More? Maybe later.
Available? Absolutely! For those who know on a need-to-know basis.
Is this code? Naaaahhhhhhh, you may just need to read a little closer.
LEXI’S REFLECTION:
Image by Boutique Photographer Linda Smallpage
Unbeknownst to me….
[Haha, I just felt like that was a random way to start a reflection.
Unbeknownst to me, 2025 would be the reckoning of disillusion. The stubborn bull-headed Taurus I am would have to stop chewing on my dandelion in the field and show my horns to those whom I never wanted to see them [I hardly use them anymore].
I have to admit, for years, I have been misinterpreting the people around me & my role in their journey. When someone says they are passionate about something, I always imagine them approaching it with the same gravitas that I have. To pour into one's craft [even when nobody is watching], to want to learn about it from many perspectives, to be dedicated to its growth…nurturing it…doing the parts you don't want to do, so you get to bask in the parts that make your soul glow.
Listen, my truest and deepest apologies…I don't have the ability to steward anyone who is unwilling [or unwanting] to perform their own growth labor. It's just not a talent I have. This year SHOWED me that words without action don't serve. And the thing is, that I believed people when they said they WANTED, that they WOULD. So that's a reality that slapped me in the face! [Hard to…left a little mark]. I had been making space for what could serve others in their passion journey, and I had disregarded how to maintain my own [in the way that would still bring me joy]. A lesson that has a $100,000 price tag….Weeeeeeeeaaaakkkkkkkk!
So as I sit on the 28th day of December, closing out a year, a space, a 22-issue dynasty [a forever thing], I hear the mumbling of people asking, “Well, what are you going to do now?”...
To that, I answer:
Focus on me & mines.
Focus on my other careers [Professor Lexi is thinking abroad & Interior Designer Shawty would love to help you personalize your space for a better quality of life…and baby, I'm good at it].
Focus on being a muse [no explanation needed].
Focus on the parts of CopyWrite [the pulse] that bring me joy [archival media…so the future won't forget].
Focus on living….¡Pura vida!
Nothing profound. IYKYK.
/Lexi, the CREATOR of /CW
IMANI’S REFLECTION:
It never occurred to me that the way I can compartmentalize my thoughts and emotions would be the leading factor and armor of “taking life to the chin” this year. I won’t introduce myself by misleading with advice about how being “strong” through the hard times will be beneficial or the strumming of your heartstrings with the “Things will be better soon” line that is often opted in for fluff. Truth is - it’s all subjective. You set the pace for your healing. I think the most important part about this year is realizing the beauty of choosing to stay who you are when you have every reason to get lost in everything else, everywhere around you. We lose things all the time but what fun is it if you’re offering yourself up to something that you're bigger than? Life is guaranteed to get difficult - so it should be guaranteed that you’ll get creative. I learned that your emotions can’t be bigger than the program. You can leave a small piece of yourself in those moments of initial grief but never let it be anything that will anchor you in that space. To me, for me – this year has been a random tsunami of riddles and paradigm shifts. I am – unsure of how to begin to describe the experience and whirlwind that comes with losing a parent but hopefully, you find yourself and your families safe this holiday season with a lot more time than I had.
How much time is that?
How much time was that?
Riddles,
Imani for /CW
DESRIANA’S REFLECTION:
The world has always been my revolving literary playground from every experience and interaction, making several notebooks and pencils a safe and comforting space where writing became second nature. Being the new kid on the block of CopyWrite (if you’re like me and want to call one year in newbie material), to an acclaimed and household name filled with heavyhitters all around, I assumed every article, interview, and research project would serve the identical function of bringing everyone else’s visions and upcoming projects from the drawing board to real life; however this year I wasn’t expecting the creative dissect that led to a intricate and unforeseen transition unfolding before my eyes. Standing in an abyss with the foundation of change, pivoting, and the overwhelming feeling that the I’m only one who didn’t leave home, journalism began wearing unfamiliar faces and circulating fresh and unique purposes I never knew it identified as. Each assignment felt different than the process I used before, even in how I would approach and ideate them. Experience was the biggest anchor for me. From interviewing legendary idols not only from Milwaukee, gaining trust for monumental assignments, walking into rooms I never thought I’d be in, and being offered opportunities I wasn’t even aware had my name attached to them, while struggling constantly with what my true creative value was, I had a battle within myself this year. When looking around and not seeing the faces you used to aid with their creative projects; you feel as if you no longer have purpose at home; but then it struck me that I now had to step up and bring my own ideas and visions to life as a creative. From fashion shows, flights, and galas my mind has rotated countless ideas to create. The intensity and endless joke about one’s identity being attached to creativity is that the party never ends; your brain constantly forms ideas and you always remain a creative, even when it seems you’re being pulled away from it through certain seasons. I learned that I have to stop playing it safe and follow through on my own thoughts, goals, and ideas creatively. This year was filled with accomplishments I rarely took in for myself as well as the one and only CopyWrite Magazine. I fell in love with in-field work as I was constantly experiencing new places, people, and communities for journalism. 2025 was the eye-opener and journey back home as well as to why writing is second nature to me and how /CW being my home consistently challenges me mentally and creatively. 2026 will be the year where I hold myself accountable and stop hiding behind others’ vision and pour into my own creativity just as much as I would support others with theirs in the past.
It’s time to get to work and stay out of the comfort zone that I was suddenly removed from early on in the year; with /CW as the forefront of my creative responsibility and fresh new playground where opportunities are endless and my thoughts can be amplified.
Desriana Gilbert | Entertainment & Social Journalist for /CW
