Feeling The Pulse of Twenty Twenty-Five

Declan Chidlow

Anno Domini 2025

As is recent tradition at the year’s end, this is my ‘wrapped’ or ‘recap’ or whatever else you might be inclined to call it.

I’ve watched as the ‘year in review’ posts of my peers have rolled in with spins more political than ever. For as much as they discuss career progression and personal milestones, they’re as much discussing the ongoing Gaza genocide, the Russo-Ukrainian war, and malignant governments.

I used to wonder how Germany slipped into fascism during the 1930s, but watching the crumbling of the United States of America this year has served as a very much unwanted live demonstration. The year has presented a global restriction of digital freedoms and crushing oppression at the hands of unhampered capitalistic intents.

I stated at the conclusion of last year that in 2025 I wished to ‘experiment, learn, and double down on what works’ as well as ‘start testing things more aligned with my goals and putting the knowledge I gained to use!’.

Those were grand ambitions that have been no doubt hampered by the effects of the aforementioned, but I have been fortunate to find some opportunities to apply myself. I’m so very grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had to develop, write, and push myself throughout the year.

2025 has been a year of great growth for me in many ways. I’ve written more than I ever have before, I’ve cultivated an audience in doing so, I’ve worked on exciting yet challenging projects, and I’ve succeeded in, as LinkedIn would say, ‘cultivating a professional network’. What that last really means, though, is that I’ve gotten to meet and work alongside some excellent people that I have the privilege of calling friends.

My Output

I created a lot of stuff this year. These stats don’t include modifications to existing posts, uncategorised content, or anything published independently of my own name. Next year I intend to be much more diligent in keeping track of my statistics and have dedicated time this year to putting in place the systems to facilitate that. Here are the numbers:

Site Changes

This site is hardly recognisable from the state it was in at the start of this year. Completely different landing page (save for the hero), completely new portfolio, completely new navigation bar, a helpful 404 page, convenient headers, better code blocks, a fresh typeface in use, the addition of video, photography, elsewhere, and library sections, and more too numerous to count.

I implemented so many new features to complement the reading experience and added so many little quality-of-life improvements. Of course, I also published so much writing and other content.

I’m so very happy with where the site is now and can’t wait to push it further with even more improvements. Perfection might be just out of reach, but I’ll keep in pursuit of it.

Media

The musical artists I listened to most were:

Masayoshi Takanaka
The Avalanches
Sparks
Ginger Root
Lemon Demon

I also notably discovered Lemon Jelly, The Books, and Cornelius and look forward to further exploring their discographies in the new year.

I watched 15 seasons of television, 34 films, and read 10 books. These numbers don’t seem near high enough given the great volume of fantastic media readily available.

Activity

A loose tracking of Git contributions that isn’t particularly comprehensive or insightful but is nonetheless fun to look at:

This year, as the first of my ‘pulse’ entries, has been an experiment in what I hope will become an annual tradition. This entry has been a tad barren, but the systems are already in place to make years next and after much fuller.

I wish to thank you, dear reader, for tuning in. I genuinely appreciate your support throughout the year, whether that was sharing my work, tipping me a few bucks, or just reading an article of mine. It really does mean a great deal, and I look forward to whatever goodness 2026 may bring.

Your friend,
— Declan Chidlow (Vale)