“[W]e with our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest. The maple and the pine may whisper to each other with their leaves… But the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground, and the islands also hang together through the ocean’s bottom.”
—William James, “The Confidences of a ‘Psychical Researcher’” (1909)
Over the last decade, I’ve come to embrace New Year’s not just as a change of calendars, but also as a spiritual threshold: a moment to pause, reflect, and choose how I want to move into the year ahead. While some people make resolutions, I use a different ritual: each year, I choose a single word to serve as my theme, my grounding, my personal lodestar.
This practice has grown into a tradition I treasure. Embrace. Explore. Roots. Blossom. Each word carries the memory of a year of my life. When I look back, I don’t just remember events—I remember who I was becoming. The word becomes a lens that brings the year into focus.
The practice is simple, but not shallow. As the year draws to a close, I ask: What shaped me? Where did I struggle? Where did I grow? What threads keep showing up in my relationships, my work, my hopes? I let it all swirl together until a feeling takes shape—and then I try to name it.
The word that emerges isn’t a goal so much as a guide. It’s not about perfection; it’s about intention. When I’m unsure which direction to take, I ask, “What would it look like to live this word right now?” And slowly, the word starts living me.
As I grapple with 2026 and all of its possibilities, the word rising to the surface is connect.
The past year reminded me how much we need one another—in small moments as much as big ones: lingering conversations, shared laughter, hands held in grief, sparks of understanding across difference. I want to deepen connections with the people I love, build bridges in my community, and stay open to being changed by what we share.
But connect reaches beyond people. I want to connect more deeply with my values, my work, and the living web of which we are all a part. In a world that tugs us toward isolation, connection feels both courageous and necessary.
So connect will be my word for 2026. It won’t map the journey, but it will point me toward the kind of traveler I hope to be.
The turning of the year offers a gift: a chance to reflect on who we’ve been and gently shape who we are becoming.
Prayer
Source of love and life, be with us as we reflect back with gratitude and forward with courage. Help us choose our intentions with wisdom and live them with compassion. May the year ahead draw us closer to one another, to our truest selves, and to the sacred web that holds us all.