2025 Thankful

I was writing on my Youtube Community Post, but after thinking about it, I feel re-writing here feels right :) Sorry about the repetition, but I do include details here that’s not on my post as I had more I wanted to share on the post and was overthinking it because of “the algorithm” ugh… Look, SEO/Algorithms has been around for a long time, and it’s always not been an area I wanted to roll my eyes at since I started my first business in 2009…!

My year started on 01/04/2025, when I booked a 1:1 with my mentor, who not only gave me helpful advice to grow my channel but also confirmed/acknowledged/expanded my energetic battery, so I can do all I need to do for 2025. And I've been hitting the ground running ever since, committing myself to uploading weekly. I honestly didn’t know if I could do it…! As in, I made 13 videos in 2023, 10 videos (plus many many reels/shorts on Instagram in 2024, experimenting on multi-platforms). The thought of making full-length videos weekly seemed like an impossible task.

While I had to take some time off, including this upcoming one (the finale for 2025), that's 49 full-length videos and 133 shorts (so far)! Wow, I really went all in and feel very proud of the videos I made and the growth (specifically my skills in video content creation: editing, AI tools, understanding the platform) I've experienced throughout!

In 2026, I will have a shift in my focus (I will still make videos, don't worry!) to do more in-person events, classes, and online workshops, and—if I get accepted, keep your fingers crossed for me—begin a graduate program in transpersonal psychology in the Spring, which was a goal of mine since 2008 and I may be able to make that happen in 2026! 🤓 I really don’t know how that will look like with time management just yet, but of course, I may have to make adjustments accordingly, balancing everything I have on my plate, including servicing clients.

With that said, I want to say how grateful I am for everyone who watched, liked, subscribed, and commented, as it made a huge difference in my experience on this platform. My humble goal has always been for Athena's Garden to be a community-building and education-focused channel, and so if it helps one person out there in some way, I've succeeded!

I think many small channel creators may be able to relate that when you put your work out there and don't receive any feedback or interactions, it feels like being that teacher or professor talking to a lecture hall in the dark, unable to see the audience's faces at all with the lighting, unable to see the audience's faces at all with the lighting, or performing to an empty auditorium - any live performer will tell you it's different when you feel/hear/see your audience.. I've always been that student who, even though an introvert, cannot help but feel like I need to raise my hand or volunteer because I can feel/relate to the professor/teacher's feelings of anticipation!

Remember "superlatives" in middle school or high school (not PC anymore, I think, lol)? There was a category I didn't quite understand called "The Teacher's Pet," and I was put in there one year because of this. I didn't even fully understand what that meant, but I participated because I can relate to that feeling of getting no feedback, not because I'm eager to speak up. Oh, the challenge of being a lightworker and practicing non-duality 🤣.

This year I made 3 videos on AI, and it may sound like I’m against using AI tools on the surface, but what I’m against is outsourcing everything to AI: our sovereignty, our integrity, our original thinking, our creativity, our desire to create things independently without the assistance of AI. I’ve also been learning and re-navigating on my own of what about Integrity when using AI tools. I have more to share on this in 2026 in greater detail in a video, but for now, I really want to take the space here on my blog to talk about briefly about merit and virtue regarding my watermarks.

These are just a few thoughts I had in December as I was creating the images for my videos. Anyone can go to an AI tool and generate the images, but not everyone can create the same image in a sense, because what I realize is that when I’m making AI as a tool to images, I’m not only responsibile for every detail in the result via research and channeling, but creating it still taps into my merit and virtue, as I always hold the intentions to code in light codes as a blueprint designer per every co-creation. Generating an image, whether it’s using a free AI tool or a paid tool, uses resources (electricity, water, etc), and it’s in a way, an energy exchange with Mother Gaia at the end of the day, which also means tapping into your merit & virtue, and the results could vary. On a non-spiritual level, it’s almost like a Roulette Wheel and gambling as my friend in the creative field says. Currently, with AI image and video generation, even with my current paid tool, results vary so much, even if I input: In this style (or use a reference image or the seed#), I’ll get something unexpected. Then there’s the ethics of these tools that are trained using other people’s art work without their consent, and what does it mean when I’m using the tools that may or may not have been, stolen. Lots to think about, but I feel it is only right that I watermark it for these reasons, not simply to claim “I made it, don’t steal it” (the traditional sense of the watermark) but an energetic ‘trace’ that I acknowledge I’m using karma/virtue/merit towards this, and I’m placing an energetic stamp. It’s a different type of ‘ownership’ that I find hard to put into words. Because if you take any of these as a reference image, feed it to AI, you can create something similar already in appearance. So my watermark is not because I’m afraid of it being stolen, it’s also a way to take responsibility. If it’s inaccurate, it’s also my responsibility, not simply due to the lack of the AI tool’s ability. I’m responsible for the outcome that it has all the correct information and lightcodes I intended to code into it!

These are for you to freely use as your cellphone wallpaper if it inspires you :) All of them from Guan Yin Part I But if you want to reuse in other ways, just ask or just credit (Athena’s Garden TV/Link to website), I’ll be happy you like it and want to reuse to spread love and light! I’ve included some captions for some of these! :)

White-Robbed Guan Yin

送子觀音 Sòng zǐ Guānyīn - Child-Bestowing Guanyin

註生娘娘天上聖母 Zhùshēng Niángniáng Tiānshàng Shèngmu, in the Daoist Pantheon colloquially known as 註生娘娘. She holds a book that symbolizes the registry of life and fate, her job as司命: the divine administration of lifespan and destiny. So anything relating to birth, life, maternal health, protector of fetuses,

天上聖母(Tiānshàng Shèngmǔ) commonly known as 媽祖 (Māzǔ)

Some people consider her an incarnation of Guan Yin! Maybe a video on 媽祖 (Māzǔ) & Lin Mo-niang (林默娘) in the future :) :) :)

南海觀音Nánhǎi Guānyīn - Southern Sea Guan Yin, tied to the story surrounding Mount Putuo (普陀山), responding to the cries of in the region, especially sailors, travelers, and those facing peril from weather and weather-related disasters.

Goddesses from Daoist Pantheon Plus Guan Yin together :)

如意輪觀音菩薩 (Rúyì Lún Guānyīn Púsà) Cintāmaṇicakra Avalokiteśvara, Wish-Fulfilling Wheel Guanyin - I will introduce in great detail in Part 3 in 2026 :)

騎龍觀音 Qí Lóng Guānyīn - Guan Yin Riding a Dragon
I credited in my video Harada Naojirō 原田直次郎 original and iconic painting, 1899 as a reference! This painting got so much hate upon its release - another story for another time, but thanks to this painting, we have this beautiful iconography brought to life. This one I always feel belongs in the cosmos and multi-dimensional space

龍女成佛 Lóngnǚ chéng fó - From the Lotus Sutra, Chapter 12 (Devadatta) where the Dragon Girl/Naga was able to instantly obtain buddha-nature in front of doubtful monks. She was a female, an 8 year old, and non-human (Dragon/Naga) - previously considered major obstacles to Buddhahood in earlier Buddhist thought.

Guan Yin, 慈航真人 & 金毛犼

Daoist Immortal Cíháng Zhēnrén and her sacred companion, Jīn máo hǒu, a mythical beast with Golden mane, is lion and dragon-like, so often compared to Guan Yin riding the dragon (different totem but same symbolism in the Daoism) - They appear in legends and fictional works like Journey to the West西遊記 and Investiture of the Gods封神演義.

All of these appeared as part of Part 1!

Thank you, Beautiful Souls! With love, I'm signing off 2025 and will return in the middle of January with more video content! Wishing you a safe and peaceful holiday season and a great start to 2026!