A Year in Review (2024)
Looking back at the last year of posts on Illustrated Life
This post is a curated list of posts from Feb 2024-Jan 2025 that stand out to me as I look back at my second year on Substack. What a year it was.
This isn’t a reflection on the year… that post is coming. This post is me surveying the posts, the year, the string of words, and making a list. If you new to Illustrated Life, this is a list to cut through the fog. (I also recommend the “Start Here” page for an assortment of of older posts.)
🎯 Thank you to readers who have upgraded their subscriptions or made a donation. The quotidian is ours to explore and record.
I still have not done my own illustrated sketch note of last year. Even though it is almost February, I am still in the bit of fog that comes with January, after my house empties, and I find myself sitting on the couch, endlessly thinking and knowing that I should get up and do something.
I am spending a lot of time in one place, unmoving, but I am very aware that this week marks the end of my second year of writing here at Substack as an extension of the podcast and a new home for my writing.
It was, without a doubt, the best move I could have made in 2023. I am grateful my writing here was solidly in place as 2024 unfolded.
It feels like this last year went so quickly. There are times when I don’t think I can keep up with the kinds of posts that I most enjoy writing for Illustrated Life, and yet I am driven to keep experimenting with my words, with narrative form, with the weaving of the personal, and with the crossover between illustration and storytelling.
The real-life events of 2024 put the podcast on hold, but here at Illustrated Life, weekly posts continued. Every week, there was a Sunday post and a set of prompts for Illustrate Your Week to support those keeping an illustration journal.
Below are a few of the posts that stand out for me when I look through the last twelve months. I often feel like the posts that I care about most and am most attached to are not necessarily the posts that resonate for readers. I also am guilty of liking most of what I write. I think we should enjoy what we write. I don’t think we should pretend that we don’t. But it doesn’t mean that some pieces don’t stand out more than others.
(In some cases, the posts I love most are ones I love because of the art they contain.)
As I line these breadcrumbs up, I know it was a difficult year, but the posts remind me that we can still make and see and find and discover beauty in challenging times.
In reality, I might read back to front, from new to old, but I’ve listed them below from the start of year two to now.
Did you have a favorite?
February
March
(Maybe I mostly like it because of the cute critter.)
April
May
(I had high hopes. I thought a collaboration was in the wings.)
(The last Mother’s Day.)
June
(One of the most important projects I did in 2024.)
(The lighthouse was closed.)
July
(So much here. So glad I wrote and posted in June and July, texture I will never have again.)
August
September
October
(A favorite for me, a weaving of science and story.)
November
(Later showed the full series, but the process post is the one that stands out,j
December
January 2025
Thank you for reading Illustrated Life. Writers need readers, and I am grateful for every reader!
Paid options are available for those who want to support Illustrated Life, the podcast, and the weekly #illustrateyourweek prompt series. Subscriptions not your thing? One-time tip jar donations or wish list treats are always appreciated.
Unless otherwise noted, all images in this post are ©️ A. Cowen. All rights reserved.
Links to books are Amazon affiliate links. Always check your library.
So much to remember. Well done!