Last December, I was sitting with my now 93-year-old grandmother talking about my life in New York City and her early life in Pittsburgh. She worked at the bank and fondly recalls the different activities that she and the other young women at the bank were able to take part in, particularly when they’d host dance instructors and stay after work taking dance classes together.
We talked about how it’s fun to do things like this after work. I told her about how I’d taken a few classes like this in my early New York days as a result of winning a raffle basket at a work event. A cross stitch class here. Coptic bookbinding there. But without the push of a gift certificate with an expiration date, it had been a while since I’d challenged myself to create something new.
So last December, I decided I would prioritize this learning instead of just talking about it. I started, predictably, with structure. I wanted this to challenge me but also to be sustainable and realistic.
My “Tangible Challenge” would be as follows:
I would take one class a month.
It would need to be in person and it would have to be related to something I know nothing (or nearly nothing) about.
And, ideally, the class would be about creating something tangible and new. I wanted to leave with something I made.
This isn’t to say that I couldn’t have learned from a baking class or from a writing workshop. But I wanted this endeavor to serve a different purpose. I’m comfortable with a cupcake tin. I spend most of my time with words. This was about doing things I don’t know much about. This was about using my brain in different ways.
Over the last 12 months, I’ve taken 13 (enthusiastically doubled up in May) classes in New York City:
January pottery
February plants
March mosaic art lamps
April dumplings
May candles
June embroidery
July soap
August painted shells
September perfume making
October printmaking
November woodworking
December looming
Throughout the course of the year, as I’d tell friends and strangers about this project, the most common response would be to ask which class was my favorite. And as I progressed through the calendar, I found that increasingly difficult to answer. Some were really about the community and the chance to connect. Some were about learning a new skill and some challenged my understanding of art. And all allowed me to turn my brain off from routine life and savor in the privilege of creating.
Each month, as I’d sit to reflect on the course and give my review to this blog, I’d feel proud of myself for taking this learning seriously. But it wasn’t until a few days ago when I walked around my apartment, collecting all my tiny creations for a group photo, that I really felt the reach of this project.
The lamp that sits on our coffee bar. The bar soap in our shower. The perfume I keep on my nightstand and the painted shell that holds our spare change. The candle everybody comments on when they visit for the first time. My printed cards that make writing letters more exciting. The wood piece serving as a bookend. The planter holding felt and metal flowers. The mug in the kitchen. The embroidered blouse in the closet. The textile art piece we already hung up. The dumplings—my one short lived lesson—a happy culinary memory.
Placing all these items on our folding table (with frozen dumplings, a symbolic gesture) made me feel something big. Look, I kept repeating to my patient partner. Look, I made all these things this year!
This Tangible Challenge was always meant to be a one-year project. But as I stared at my table, I was struck by the idea of doing a one-month resolution 12 months in a row. What could I do on a monthly basis in 2025 that would give me this same feeling of pride and accomplishment next December.
As we lean toward 2025 and conversation turns toward new goals, I invite you to think of something you could do on a monthly basis. What does the flexibility of 30 days allow you to do? What might you take on one month at a time?
I have a sneaking little feeling there may be another Tangible Challenge on the radar for 2025. And I look forward to chronicling it and sharing it with you all.
We’d love to hear from you! Have you ever taken on a monthly challenge for a year? What kind of things do you think could fit into your months? What might make you proud in a year?
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