It’s a New Year! Is it going to be a New You

The Word

As most of you know, I welcome the New Year with the declaration of a New Word. I’m probably up to forty words by now. Yup. forty different words for forty different years. No reoccuring words – no do-overs – no second thoughts. In our many years of traveling together, my words and I know that we will find each other at some point in our time travel voyage. This year, we came together while sitting at my desk, gazing at the now 4th-floor-high avocado tree, which is beautifully blocking my view of the 200-year-old terracotta-tiled roof and bell tower of Virgen De Bronce Catholic Church. Nestled on a high hill above Diez de Agosto and guarded by a massive, stout grandmother palm. Don’t tell the avocado tree, but my personal preference is the terracotta roof and the tower.

Bye Bye

I’m pleased that 2025 has packed up and moved along onto its place in history. We’ll leave it up to the future to determine the level of light to record this chaotic time. The vast amount of static electricity raging throughout the aphaspere continues to burst and rupture the bulbs of light. Perhaps what will remain of this time will be a lone candle sitting on a windowsill of a dark house lost in a forgotten time. Bleak, I know. There was a time when I could easily find the light, through the cracks in the walls, the empty space between the door and floor. 2025 was more of a challenge to find positive thoughts to guide my way. Depending on the day, it’s still here, the hope. And, as long as we continuously share the box of matches, the candle burns. And we all know the story of the Phoenix rising.

Last year, we rang in 2025 with a festive black-tie party in a friend’s home. The festivities carried on as we celebrated our January and February birthdays in Ecuador and Mexico. The year was off to an excellent start… but then an unfamiliar malaise slowly set in and began to block my usual, optimistic view of life and the world around me. This malaise, for me, was a rarely visited state of mind. Especially with the year off to such a positive, upbeat note of excitement..But, there it was lurking around, like a house-guest that has overstayed its welcome. I won’t bore you with the details, but as we approached the fall, with Mother Nature dressing up for a new season, I was determined not to carry this uninvited guest into my new year

Hello 2026

Along with the Phoenix rising and the start of 2026, I am determined to unpack a few issues that no longer benefit me or those around me. I plan to rise to a new, improved me. I’ve given myself time to evaluate not only what brings joy into my life, but also, more importantly, what’s going on emotionally. I’m a visual person, so I’ve always viewed my emotions as ‘My Interior Landscape’. This visual makes it easier for me to compartmentalize. I was introduced to this method while reading Shogun for the first time in 1975. It left such an intense impression on me that I’ve read it 3 times in total! There is a vivid scene in the book of a tea ceremony with Lady Mariko and Blackthorne, where she explains to Blackthorne the importance of one to compartmentalize their thoughts and plans. To approach each compartment individually. It is not as overwhelming when focusing on one aspect at a time. My landscape is a garden divided into many plots, each representing a different aspect of my day-to-day life. It makes it easier to see which plots need weeding and new planting. And a few of these plots might require more attention and action than others…

And, there you have it…My word for 2026 is Action. On all levels. I often felt, throughout the year, a feeling of discomfort, an uneasiness with the atmosphere around me. A lack of concentration to write (actually, the longest I have gone without a written word). There were a few creative aspects: I designed and launched a locally produced handbag collection. I re-styled a few living spaces for friends, but by the end of year I felt I had let 2025 slip by. My enthusiasm, throughout the year, was idling in neutral, and I knew it. And, now here we are in a brand new year.

I have never been a resolution, kinda gal. I usually forget what they were by February. But what I can be is determined. And that is the mindset, enhanced by my 2026 word, Action. It’s a simple word. But it’s the beginning of everything we do. A friend recently asked me to be in a play she is directing for a small playhouse. The play is Seven, a widely produced documentary play written by seven female playwrights, based on interviews with seven real-life women activists who overcame major obstacles to fight for human rights in countries like Afghanistan, Cambodia, Russia, and Nigeria. I’ll be narrating for Inez McCormack from Belfast, Ireland, during the height of the Northern Ireland conflict with the British armed forces from the 1960s to 1998. So, for a short run in March, I will be surrounded by the stories of amazing women who submerged themselves in Action. And I will have the honor of giving the words of Inez McCormack my voice in the Twenty-first Century.

I so hope you will share your words or your stories with us for the new year. It’s going to be a challenging time, and since we cannot hold hands, let’s string together words of encouragement, love, and hope for this union we call humanity. xo