Into 2026

We spent the last few weeks of 2025 in Patagonia. 

Over the course of 2 weeks, I experienced the distance between home and the lands that we were exploring in so many ways. There was the physical distance between what is familiar/known and what is unfamiliar/unknown. And the distance caused by differences in language, culture, custom, and landscape. And the reality of being in the southern hemisphere to honor the summer solstice, experiencing 17 hours of daylight while my friends and neighbors in Maine honored the returning light during an 8 hour day. 

Amidst these true and gaping physical distances and cognitive differences, I experienced a deep sense of connection, groundedness, and belonging.

There’s still a lot to digest and there will be a lot to share over time. For now, here are a few tidbits of experience ready to be shared…

I stood under the night sky searching for the southern cross and felt the utter connectivity and continuity of the entire night sky.

I put my hands in the Pacific Ocean off of Chile’s coast, marveled at the warmth in the bay and felt both the singular uniqueness of the opportunity to touch that water and a kinship with all the waters I had ever met.

I hiked a beautiful mountain trail, marveling at the peaks, valleys, and waterfalls all around while also tending carefully to each footfall. (Even in a UNESCO Biosphere reserve at the base of the “8th wonder of the World”, it is necessary to pay attention to the ground beneath my feet so I don’t end up doing a faceplant.)

I listened to the myriad of languages spoken by other hikers and appreciated our differences as well as our common humanity and shared interest in experiencing wild nature.

I leaned into the mystery of traveling with others, easing my own expectations and needs to make space for everyone else’s to be seen and heard too. And I recognized and appreciated the way that the rest of my family did the same.

I learned to paddle gently into a fierce and chilly wind, trusting in the current to carry me downstream.

I literally went with the flow and, as I did, I remembered that I am and always will be an inextricable part of All That Is. I will ride this current of awareness into the new year, grateful for this nourishing, sustaining planet and the courage, beauty, and care of the good people and purpose in my life.

However the current of 2026 is arriving for you, may you too be held in courage, beauty, and good care. 

And, together, let us tend our softness in the face of harsh realities, trusting in an ever-flowing current of love that supports and carries us.