Stuff I’ll Keep in 2026

I know, believe me, I know. It’s time to shed the old, discard the crap, defuse the judgement and forgive the trespassers. In fact, for every snake metaphor you can muster, today is the day to say goodbye to all of it. But there is a pile of stuff I plan to keep. Like treasured memories and my wonderful network of people along with hopes and dreams and aspirations and grit and imagination and a ton of love. But me too. Starting with my wild side. She’s been my main gal from forever. She doesn’t mind screaming with a zany recklessness. She’s impractical and unrealistic. She’s a stargazer. She’s at the top of my invite list headed into 2026. Sometimes she makes a mess, has a breakdown, gets absolutely sidetracked or even off track. But she’s never given up. She’s made this life the stunning vision it is, and I’m fairly certain, she’s going to keep charging forward through whatever comes next. So, here’s to being unabashedly every bit of me in the near and far future, while embracing the mountain of marvels and challenges ahead.

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Any Random December Day

Last December I wrote, “Whether you honor St. Nicholas Day, Bodhi Day, Yule, the Feast Day of Our Lady Guadalupe, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day or are devoting December to your spectacular New Year’s Eve plans, there is cause to celebrate, over and over, if you wish. Imagine all that cheer and goodwill rippling around our globe, with so many splashing about in waves of collective delight, wow, like a well-needed global-reset to equal this holiday season chockfull of festivities to share with friends and family.” When you think about it, is there anything better to concentrate on than sharing in collective delight? Quite seriously, that is just about all I can hope for, sharing this glittery and bright joy until we are all swept up. If you take a peek around, you will find nature agrees, bringing forth uplifting vistas and epic skylines perfectly.

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Fairytale Greed

If you are privileged enough not to know anyone whose SNAP benefits were cut or has been working for weeks unpaid or suffering any indignities caused by the Republican lead government shutdown, then I guess you should call yourself lucky. You clearly live in a different America than I do. Oddly enough, the Brothers Grimm fairytale, The Fisherman and his Wife was echoing around in my mind this week. According to Wikipedia, this tale of greed was collected by the brothers in 1812, and is considered an anti-fairytale due to its tragic ending. Like most Waldorf school moms, I read this story to my young children, but due to decades teaching Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse the haunting images of the angry sea in the fairytale have stayed with me as Woolf wove the two stories together. It is the Greed with a capital G of the White House that is stirring this cautionary fairytale back into my consciousness.

the southern California coast

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