Happy Mew Year! How to Set Intentions for a Creative 2025

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In this first mini-episode of 2025, I’m reflecting on 2024—what a year it’s been—and sharing my fresh focus and intentions for the year ahead. I also get real about some of the challenges and setbacks I’ve faced, how they’ve shaped me, and what I’ve learned as I step into 2025 with a renewed mindset.

You’ll hear about my word for the year, how I’m planning to make this my best year yet, and some fun ways for you to get involved in upcoming episodes!

✨ Links and Resources:

• Sign-up for our email list and receive our Galentine's Day Playlist!
• Read Cue the Sun! by Emily Nussbaum
• Qveen Herby's Podcast: Herby House
• Passion Planner

🎤 Stay Connected:

• Follow me on Instagram: @gemmasmithnyc, @tailsandtasselspod
• Follow Catbaret on Instagram: @catbareshow

💌 Get in Touch:
What’s your word for 2025? How are you stepping into the new year? Connect with me on Instagram, email a voice memo to tailsandtasselspod@gmail.com, or leave a comment! I'll be sharing listener feedback in future episodes.

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Transcript

Gemma Smith (00:05.614)
Hello Kitty Cats and welcome back to Tails and Tassels and to a brand "mew" year. This is the show where you learn about the lives of nightlife and burlesque performers and their kitty cats. And welcome to the first mini episode of 2025. I'm Gemma Smith, host of the Catbaret, a cat themed variety show in New York City. And today I'm reflecting on 2024 and sharing how I'm stepping into 2025.

with a fresh focus. I'm also getting over a bit of a cold that's lasted two weeks. So bear with me here, I'm a little raspy, but I'm really excited to share with you my ritual every new year for setting intentions, choosing a word of the year, creating a vision board, as these may be useful tips to you as you plan your goals for the new year. And in case you didn't know, we're gonna have a solo episode

every other week when I don't have a guest. So you'll hear from me more often with reflections on my own creative journey with tips to share with you. And of course, we're going to talk about cats, including my own cats, Lion-o and Luna. So I'm thrilled to spend even more time with all you listeners and kitty cats in 2025.

So something I like to do every new year is I choose a word that's going to be my theme for the year. And it really helps guide me throughout the year, reflecting back on this word and thinking how it plays out in various parts of my life. Okay, so for 2024, the word that I chose was bloom. And I really liked this word because it made me think about all the seeds that I've planted in the past, coming to fruition and really blooming. And it just had a really positive

a picture in my head, a lot of imagery, and I do think the word impacted this year. The first thing that I like to do as part of my new year, new year ritual is to reflect on 2024 and think about all of the good things that happen. Write down the things that you're proud of, the things that brought you joy, whether in your personal life, your creative life, your professional life, take a few moments and write down those things. So I did that.

Gemma Smith (02:29.806)
before we started this recording and thinking about my word for the year Bloom and how it played out based on the things that brought me the most joy and that I'm proud of are, you know, growth with my shows as a host, as a performer. I'd been producing Catbaret for gosh, five years in Queens. And in 2024, I had a goal to produce a show in Manhattan.

And I produced two Catbaret shows at Caveat on the Lower East Side, which to me, honestly, is a very big deal. That is a house to so many great comedians and storytellers and artists. So to me, I really felt like Cat Beret was blooming. In addition to that, I produced a Realities burlesque show in Brooklyn and then also restaged it in Manhattan at Caveat. And Reali-tease is my burlesque show that

pays tribute to reality TV. And I did a Vanderpump Rules burlesque show, which was this crazy idea I had planted in my brain in 2023 when I binged the entire series of Vanderpump Rules. I had never watched it and I do like reality TV. I know this is different from my regular cat themed discussion, but it's another passion of mine, okay? I like reality TV. And I just became obsessed with how ridiculous a burlesque version of it would be.

And I'm proud of myself that I had this idea. found collaborative, talented performers to be a part of it, produced it in Brooklyn, sold out, and then restaged it at Caveat in Manhattan and in Cabaret and Reali-tease got mentioned in Time Out New York. And that's always like feels like a big wins. Also another seed that I planted thinking about what else bloomed in 2023. I

produced a sizzle reel for a non-scripted TV show. You're noticing a theme here, reality TV for Tails and Tassels. I hired a director, cinematographer, a PA, I had a veterinarian expert, a behavior expert, a pet psychic. We made this whole like three minute sizzle reel for Tales and Tassels to be a reality show. And I pitched it to producers. I even signed a shopping agreement with someone. It was like really exciting for me.

Gemma Smith (04:49.282)
but nothing happened. I'm kind of an unknown in that world and people that are getting reality TV shows are already famous. I'm definitely not and don't have as many followers as you need. And so it didn't pan out right. And that's okay because that was the seed that I planted to become this podcast. I'm really happy to have this project and to have anyone listening at all and connecting with others.

Okay, I didn't get a reality show, but at least I gave it a shot and now I've got this. So I feel like that was the seed that I planted to become, Tails and Tassels, the podcast. And in other ways in my life, I definitely feel like there's still room to bloom. and also I just wanna add another area I feel like in my creative life that I bloomed. I recently performed in Books and Burlesque.

Again, tying it all together, I got asked to create an act based off the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Cue the Sun by Emily Nussbaum, and it's about the invention of reality TV. And I was just in that show. It's a hit show, always sold out. Amazing authors of fiction and nonfiction are paired with burlesque and drag artists to perform in their show. And I was really honored and honestly.

a little nervous to create, you know, I never created an act based off like an assigned book, but thankfully it was all about reality TV, which I love. And I was able to come up with an act based off a section around the bachelorette and imagined a future bachelorette taking the power back and owning the narrative by not giving out that final rose and taking her clothes off instead.

I felt super grounded during that performance. I don't always feel 100 % grounded as much as I'd like. And I was grateful that for that performance, I felt really in my body and I really had fun. And for me, that's the biggest win when I'm actually like present and enjoying the performance because that's why I started performing burlesque because it's the most fun I've ever had on stage. Okay, so that's

Gemma Smith (07:11.47)
That's 2024. And setting the stage for 2025, I wanna be more vulnerable on this podcast. And so I wanna share something that's been going on in my personal life that's affecting the way that I am approaching the new year and affecting the word that I'm choosing for the new year. So to be more vulnerable and to share what's impacting this word for me.

I will say that my husband and I have been on a journey to grow our family through adoption. And we've been working with an adoption agency for over three years. We've been a waiting family for two and a half years. And we've been envisioning our future as parents. And the last six months have really been a time for reflection for me personally and for my husband as it's been a long journey and there hasn't been

a match and so we've really had to reflect and think about where we are in our lives now and what we value and what we'd like to do moving forward. And so together we've decided to move forward child free. Still cat parents though, we have two cats, Lion-o and Luna we love very much so they're very happy probably about this decision. I feel kind of vulnerable sharing this in a podcast that anyone can listen to.

but I know the podcast that I listen to, people are authentic and vulnerable. And so that's what I'm trying to do and to be. And so my husband and I, Alan, we are moving forward, child free. I'm turning also vulnerable 40 in June and he's a decade older than me. And so we feel at this point in our lives, we wanna move on to the next step. And what is the next step, okay?

Well, actually, before I move on to the next step, I should just say, you know, it's been a difficult time for me. Grieving a future I thought I would have, even though I feel, we feel this is the right thing for us. This is the right decision. We've had a very positive experience on this journey. It's just, it's time for us to move forward. And I'm still grieving though, even though I know it's the right decision. I still feel sadness and grieving and processing my feelings.

Gemma Smith (09:37.934)
thinking about, well, what do I want in 2025? We are moving on to this next chapter of our lives and me specifically. I wanna have more fun. I want to play. So my word of the year of 2025 is play. I feel that sometimes I care so much about my projects, about people in my life, about, I care so much about things that I do. I forget to have fun. I get a bit more than a bit.

anxious and I want to drain the seriousness out of things. Queen Herbie uses that phrase a lot on her podcast, HerbyHouse. I love Qveen Herbie, by the way. Saw her concert in New York City at Terminal 5. Have to say that was a highlight of my year. But yes, I want to play. If I'm not going to be a parent and I'm not going to be spending the next year keeping a human alive, then I have more time, right? I have more time to...

have fun, to travel, to try different things, not take everything so serious with my social media or what I wear when I'm doing the podcast or, you know, I take things seriously and I want to play more. So that is the word that I chose for 2025. I almost chose the word community for 2025 because as I've gotten older, I realized my extroverted self really misses having a bigger friend group and more community.

And also thinking about the outcome of the election and realizing that I can do more, so much more to help others and to be involved in making an impact, even if it's a small positive impact within my community. So I've signed up for a local mutual aid and started donating items. And also through this podcast, I feel as though I'm creating community of

performers. really enjoy chatting with each guest and learning about them and then going on and supporting them and cheering them on and feeling like being part of a community of performers who also love cats brings me a lot of joy. And so I do want to note 2025 I did choose the word play, but I do understand there's a lot going on in the world that is not

Gemma Smith (11:59.15)
fun and games and is not play. And so that's just how I want to approach my projects and my personal life. But I also want to, I care about my community and I care about others. Okay, so I reflect on 2024. I set a word for 2025. And now I create a vision board and I set my intentions visually for the new year.

So what I like to do every year is buy a bunch of magazines that have gorgeous, beautiful images inside. I go to Barnes and Noble, usually at Union Square. I buy a big foam poster board. I light a candle. I play some inspiring music. And I just start cutting out images. And I create a vision board based on things I want to bring into the new year.

but I'm having some friends over tonight in my apartment and I got poster boards for everyone and scissors and glue sticks and food and drink and they're all bringing magazines to share and we're gonna create our vision boards together. Hey kitty cats, before we dive deeper into today's topic, I wanna let you in on something special. If you're loving what we're chatting about today, I'd love for you to join the Catbaret and Tails and Tassels email list. By signing up, you'll get access to our exclusive

Galentine's Day Catbaret playlist full of fun songs that will keep you purring with joy. It's a little extra something for being part of the Catbaret family. Just head to the show notes to sign up. Okay, kitty cats, what is your word for 2025? What are your intentions for the new year? How do you plan on playing more in your own life?

You can DM me or comment on the episode post. I'd love to share some of your intentions in future episodes. Another tool that I love when it is the Mew year is opening up my brand new Passion Planner. Okay, I am not sponsored by Passion Planner at all. No one sponsors me at this point, all right? But I am obsessed. I get a Passion Planner every year. I choose a different.

Gemma Smith (14:11.118)
They have different designs. They also have highlighters, different color pens, sticker packs. It's a weekly and monthly planner and a goal setting journal. And I'm always so excited at the beginning of the year to crack it open. It's a ritual that I go to a nice cafe in the neighborhood. I treat myself to like a matcha latte or a chai and I open my new planner. If you couldn't tell, this is really dorky, but that's something that I look forward to every single year.

Okay, kitty cats, so this is it, the first mini episode of 2025. I would love to hear some of your rituals for ringing in the new year as a creative cat lover. These are just the things that I do that help set me up for success and hopefully I'll recover from this cold as well and I can start 2025 on the right paw. And that's a wrap for this episode of Tails and Tassels.

So if you have any questions, comments, or just want to say meow, feel free to send us an email at tailsandtasselspod at gmail.com. Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Also, join our community on Instagram at Tails and Tassels Pod for more updates and behind the scenes fun. See you next time, kitty cats.