Arbitrary or not, I have been trained to reflect and hope around the winter holidays. If I don’t buzz with ideas, it feels like I’ve lost my mojo. I’ve had a tradition of choosing a word for each year that guides me, so this year it is: Identity. So here are my thoughts…
“The times they are a-changing,” and so am I. I have decided that this year I am going to focus on exploring who I have been and who I want to become. I have several aspects of my identity, thus the whole “multitudes” thing. After reflecting on 2025, three parts of my identity stood out: mom, activist, and music lover. There was obviously the part where I grappled with who I am as a cancer “survivor,”—that word still doesn’t resonate with me, but I haven’t found a good replacement. Mostly, though, I had enough energy to return to some of the most essential parts of myself.
While it’s not a resolution per se, I would like to focus more intentionally on a few more aspects of myself in 2026 and beyond.
- Wife
- Learner
- Creative
- Planner
- Traveler
- Believer
- F1 Fan
I will continue to define who I am as a Mom as my kids become more independent as teens. This is honestly frightening, and I can’t say I’m coping well with this so far. My identity is so wrapped up in them, and their growth this year has honestly made me reflect more on who I am.
My passion for human rights will obviously remain. I continue to explore how I can plug in and precipitate change without drowning in hopelessness about the world and the human condition. I hope to create or become part of a “village” focused on community support. The concept of a village is intriguing and aligns with my values; however, I never seem to be able to break into something that already exists, and I don’t really have enough local friends to start something. I am going to have to earnestly commit to leaning into discomfort on this one.
That pesky little aspect of me that, as much as I don’t want it to be, is now a part of my story, “cancer survivor,” needs some exploration as well. My intention for that, though, is solely to remain hopeful for “unremarkable” reports. Will the lasting effects of chemo continue to impact my life and what I can and can’t do? Yes. Will I have triggering moments that send me into the fetal position? Probably. Do I feel the need to delve deeper into what I went through? Not really. So we will see how that goes.
I will write about 2025 as a mom, an activist, and a music lover in follow-up posts. I actually have at least one of those fully drafted, so I will genuinely follow through this time.
TTFN