Looking Back and Looking Ahead

A Word of the Year, Reflection, Dreaming, and Liminal Space

So much of my work these last few years has been learning to live in presence. To be fully present with what is right in front of me rather than exhausting my energy rehashing things from the past or constantly preparing for the future with an energy laced in control.

But this space between Christmas and New Years always feels like liminal space. It’s the land where I reflect back on the past year before leaving it behind, and it’s the ocean where I dive into my dreams as I consider what I want this next year to look like. It’s intentional space where I ponder the trajectory of my life to determine if I need to shift my sails in order to be the person I desire to be.

This past year, I didn’t choose a word of the year for the first time in years. At the beginning of 2025, I was drowning in edits and caring for a baby, as well as homeschooling three older students, in the throes of learning to navigate the teenage years, and I had just stepped away from my editing job. Honestly, I couldn’t find the space to catch a breath even to choose a word of the year.

I spent 2025 celebrating my baby turning 1, finishing deep editorial work on my book (and sending it to the printer!), training for and hiking the Grand Canyon Rim2Rim (just one month before a forest fire burned down and closed the entire North Rim!), sending my oldest off to high school and my second daughter to public school for the first time (7th grade, where she’s doing great!), continuing to homeschool my other two daughters, traveling to Hawaii, Florida, Texas, and Ohio, navigating some difficult marriage challenges as well as blended family difficulties, reading lots of books about parenting teenagers (because omggg we’re here, and it’s not always easy), and doing deep soul work to learn how to honor myself, live with my heart open, and choose integrity.

2025 showed me patterns, allowing me the chance to break them and rewrite them. 2025 gave new encounters and second chances. 2025 allowed me to push to my limits and acknowledge my need for rest. 2025 included both boundaries and grace.

For 2026, my word of the year is DISCIPLINED. In all honesty, I don’t love the word. There are a lot of negative connotations around it for me. But the word came to me clearly, and I have no doubt it is the word I want to focus on this year. As my baby approaches turning 2, it becomes easier to find my own time, and I want to build in habits and disciplines for next year that will contribute to the life I want to build.

Before getting pregnant, I was working out consistently, and I’d like to again build in a discipline of working out three times a week. I’d also like to establish consistent writing time. Since finishing my book this past summer, I’ve needed a break from writing. But I’d like to slowly add back in the practice, where it’s something I’m intentionally taking time for each week. I’ve been reading 30-40 books the last 5 years, and I’d like to continue that discipline this year, as I believe reading is one of the best ways that we expand our frameworks. I’d also like to add a simple mindfulness practice in each day, where I light a candle, read a passage from a book of prayer (either Sacred Journeys or Common Prayer), and meditate for 3 minutes. I’m always amazed at how grounded I feel after a practice as simple and short as this. I’d like to add in the practice of writing one hand-written letter a month as well, add at least one new addition to my history timeline book each month, and spend at least one hour a month on a handcraft (like sewing).

While part of being disciplined includes adding new habits, I also want it to include less screen time. I know that less screen time will also open up the space for more habits (and likewise, adding in more habits fills my time in a way that makes it less likely for me to grab my phone).

Ultimately, my desire with focusing on discipline this year is to find more connection, joy, peace, balance, harmony, and love. For myself, my family, and the world. Happy New Year!