I tend to look forward more often than I look back. I’m driven by what’s around the next bend and curious to see the view from the top of the next mountain. I am predisposed to doing rather than being, although I’m doing my best to practice my own being in the midst of all the doing.

So when I slow down to look at all that’s been done in 2024, it’s easy to say, “Oh, that’s why I am tired.” But it’s a good sort of tired tired. We talk about spending our time and spending our money. But how do you want to spend yourself? A Peace of My Mind’s work from the last 12 months feels like an important investment in community and connection in a season when both are in short supply.

Reflecting on 2024, I want to start and end by saying thank you. We just met our end of year fundraising goal and I want to thank each and every person who donated to get us across the finish line. I recognize the rare and special place I get to occupy as the curator of these stories, and I only get to do this work because of the support and encouragement of the generous people who back it.

But it’s not just financial support that keeps us going. People have different capacities and they give in different ways. I want to thank the volunteers who help us put on our events. The people who share their powerful stories. The communities and organizations who invite us into their spaces. My family and friends who nudge me along when the path is uncertain. The strangers who send kind notes of encouragement. Our board members who offer structure and accountability. Our informal advisors who give wise counsel and help shine light into the corners where my eyes can’t yet see.

2024 was full and I’m grateful to everyone who was a part of making it possible. Here are a few of the highlights:

-A Peace of My Mind led programming in more than a dozen states, sharing workshops, lectures, exhibits, and public studios on college campuses, at conferences, and in community centers across the country leading to direct engagement with more than 5,000 in-person participants and countless others through the ripples of social media.

-Our studio series this year explored themes of hope, belonging, and healing. We helped communities talk about when they have made their greatest impact, how their faith traditions have made them stronger, how their communities could address domestic and sexual violence, how we can foster positive experiences for our youth, and more. We continue to see the powerful impact of how our storytelling helps organizations and communities articulate and amplify their mission, vision, and values in the world.

-Our latest book, Lessons on the Road to Peace, racked up some impressive awards this year, including the Minnesota Book Awards for best noon-fiction, IPPY’s Peacemaker of the Year, Best Overall Design from Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and Finalist for the Montaigne Medal for books of social significance from the Eric Hoffer Awards. Earlier this month we learned that we won a Gold medal in the Budapest International Foto Awards, adding our first international kudos to the mix.

-We expanded into our first ever physical space over the summer, sharing a remarkable combination of classroom, office, conference room, kitchen, and storage facilities, plus a 2,400SF public access production studio at Vandalia Crossing with other media-producing roommates. The creative energy in the space and the potential for future collaborations is exciting and we are enjoying the process of learning more about Sahan Journal, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, Listenup Youth Radio, and Roots Moravian Church. Of course the move meant relocating approximately 16,000 pounds of book inventory, 3 tons of exhibits, and all the other details and artifacts of creative work that don’t pack neatly into boxes. I am proud to report that all the friends who helped with the effort still remain our friends.

-Our new home has offered us a great space for hosting meetings and public events. We showcased our new Lessons on the Road to Peace exhibit in February at a book release event (before we officially moved in), we put more than 60 large portraits on the walls and celebrated with an open house in October and we hosted public coffee conversations for each display. 2025 will bring a new series of public events, so stay tuned for details.

-Over the summer, A Peace of My Mind spent time in Northern Ireland with students and staff from Willamette College. We listened and learned together at a reconciliation center north of Belfast. It was a powerful week with many new connections and it opened a door to possibilities that will unfold through 2025 and beyond. For now, we have lined up a scouting trip in February to coordinate logistics and build relationships and two weeks of focused storytelling planned for June. Stay tuned as we lean into new international stories that can help us explore the ways other societies have navigated tensions and conflict.

-We added the help of an intern last summer. Kyra joined the team after her freshman year at St. Olaf where she studies art history and museum curating. It was a win-win scenario with Kyra lending a hand and getting experience in public art engagements while I got to practice mentoring bright students as we think about training the next generation of storytellers who can help us shift our narrative from division toward connection. Looking forward to the new year, we are aiming to have 2-3 interns on the road for projects in the summer of 2025.

-We’ve also added Nick Theisen to our team as a project coordinator, helping with outreach and building new relationships as well as managing the logistics of our engagements. Nick started as an intern with A Peace of My Mind nearly a decade ago and he finally relented to my persistent requests for him to join the team. His thoughtfulness and his energy are a great addition and by the end of the school year we expect to expand his hours as he starts leading programming of his own.

-A Peace of My Mind led new public studios at a sober powwow in northern Minnesota asking, “What has helped you move toward healing?” and on the streets of Jackson Heights in Queens, New York, asking, “What is your American story?” These public studios are powerful exercises in listening and offer us the chance to say to everyone we encounter, “I see you, I hear you, and you matter.”

-We have started in earnest collecting stories for a new body of work about addiction and recovery. I have done more than twenty new interviews with more on the calendar. I will continue to add new stories throughout the year and will start sharing them publicly in the next month or so. Watch for a new podcast season to start soon. Over time, we want to create a new exhibit and book that can be used as a resource for others to seek the help they need and for the general public to understand the challenges of addiction and recovery in new ways.

All told, it’s a lot. I’m proud of the work we have done in 2024 and grateful for the relationships we have built. We have fully transitioned from our nomadic life on the road and put in place a strong foundation back in the Twin Cities to use it as our platform for growth as we go into the new year. Stay tuned. This is about to get interesting…