As I wrap up the loose ends from 2025, I can’t help but think of all the magnificent experiences I was blessed to be a part of—unexpected travels and checking off some pretty big items from my bucket list. Along side of those blessings came some shocking losses of lifetime friendships. Friends I’ve known for as long as fifty years are gone in a flash. Too many friends and family members left this Earth over the past few months, and a part of me is sorting through that truth and considering my own mortality. It’s a balance. Give and take. It would take me the better part of 2026 to write about all the happenings, and I’m afraid that I lack the ability to move anyone with words that truly represent all this year has brought. I’m guessing as you reflect on 2025, you too will have some pains and some thrills to recall.

I heard a podcast recently that asked listeners what they were feeling as we reached the end of 2025. The majority said they were “ready for it to be over.” The collective response shook me, because even though I have a lot to grieve, I also have so many great blessings to more than balance the grief. I’m not happy, nor am I unhappy to end one year and look willingly into the next chapter. I know too well that many are not so fortunate to be alive to share hopes and dreams and stories and scars. This post is filled with the emotions I have inside. I miss everyone who has passed, and I am thankful that I am still here. One day that will not be the case.

And so I ask you to take the time to be in the moment with any emotions that you have as a result of having lived through 2025. Are you happy to be moving out of the old and onto the new? Are you planning? Are you celebrating the chance to make your life experience better than the last? What will you leave behind willingly? What will you claim as your birthright? How do you imagine 2026 will differ from 2025? I’m not asking for resolutions. I’ve never been a big fan in the rigidity of such. Most resolutions set in January are long gone come February, and so instead, I ponder, I write, and I even consider my life in retrospect….

Personally, I am planning on deeper connections with people who bring something of value to the table. I’m planning on being more selfish with my time and energy. I’m also planning to not complain so much about politics. And I vow to do more to make this world a better place not only for myself. But resolutions? Nah. I’ll take each day as it is delivered, and I will continue to encourage women to own their most authentic voice. Sort of sounds like last year. And the year before….

Happy new year.
Wishing you everything you dream of being,

Much love, Jan