Chapter 1 /
A note of reflection and our hopes for 2025
Words: Courtney Chew
Photography: Courtney Chew and Kenta Goto
A week into 2025 and I thought I would share a little note of reflection and our hopes for the upcoming year. This past year I took some time away from OCIN to focus on my role as a mom. It has been an incredibly humbling experience in so many ways. Challenging, rewarding, fast, slow, but also grounding — it’s amazing how prioritizing the growth of another human can inspire so much growth in you. To see the world through another’s’ eyes — the boundless curiosity, awe, the way they navigate the world or catch things you don’t catch, the way the world interacts with them and where flaws in systems exist. It reminds us to slow down, to take each moment in with our child-like wonder, to persist, to keep going and ask questions — little skills we lose touch with as we get older; potentially the keys to helping humanity get back to where we need to go.
2024 brought with it big learnings and unlearning, changes, shifts, and momentum in all different ways. It held us accountable, highlighted what our true values and beliefs are, and strengthened our commitment to the purpose we feel fuels our existence. It showed us how disconnected we are, how we need to better care for self, others and the planet we share. It also brought heightened attention and urgency on reconnecting with the true essence of community, collective action, and collective healing.
Our hope for the coming year is we continue to lean on each other, to be kind to our neighbors near and far, to be curious of others and to continue to ask questions that spark our creativity, wonderment and awe. We hope for more moments of stillness, of quiet, of reflection and introspection, of quality time with nature, to bring us clarity, to reconnect us with our why and what is truly meaningful, to bring us understanding, to show us compassion, to hold us, to embrace us, to love us, and unite us — to push the limits of innovation for good and to enhance our lives, not define it. To push for change and systems and structure that serves for all people, with heart. To respect our future and the future behind us by thinking about longevity, the long-term, the forever years ahead that we cannot yet see.
We hope 2025 brings with it unconditional love and protection for our children, our elders, our Earth. We hope we continue to search for and hold on to wisdom, truth, stories and connection. We hope it brings genuine care for all things - to care about what we put out in the world and realize the great impact even the seemingly little actions or choices hold. We hope for peace and a deeper connection to our humanity.
We can always learn from nature and the oceans. Lessons we can take with us into the coming year — that the circularity of life is the most in harmony when we understand what we’re doing, why were doing it, the role we play, and how we can evolve as environment changes. There’s a symbiosis to life below and around us that we can learn from if we look. That community is essential for the betterment of the ecosystem we are all a part of. To help not only each other, but ourselves, thrive. That our impact, ripples. Let’s challenge ourselves to ask, what are we leaving behind [today, right now, tomorrow] - on what we put out on the world, on the feeling we leave on others, on the energy we give, on what we invest in, and can we walk away proud and happy? Instead of collecting things, let’s collect moments, memories, good people, wisdom, treasures, joy, health, flow, magic.
For a healthier, kinder, more peaceful world, we’re always better, together.
We look forward to continuing growing, learning, redefining, creating, playing, expanding, and being with you in more ways this 2025. We’ve been working on bringing some new ideas to life, new ways of showing up, and can’t wait to share with you this year. Thank you — to our partners, our collaborators, our community — for all your continued support and for believing in and being a part of our global collective of incredible open hearts and open minds. For a healthier, kinder, more peaceful world, we’re always better, together.
Here’s to a beautiful start to 2025. 💙🌊🌴🐍
Courtney
Human, friend, ocean lover, OCIN founder
P.S: If you've made it this far, photos by me and @write_left for OCIN Chapter IV Mini (!) — little bits launching later this month 🙏🏽 Sign up for our e-letters for launch date details.
