Word of the Year: 2026

     Happy new year! In 2025 I chose the word “balance” as my word of the year. In many ways this was more powerful than any resolution. This intention was present throughout the whole year. New years resolutions often fail in a few months, weeks, or days. They tell us negative things about ourselves when we fail to maintain them, like we made a promise to ourselves and let ourselves down. We are not weak, undisciplined, or failures for not changing ourselves in a single moment. We are dynamic and complex, and progress is not always a linear journey.

     Starting your year with an intention can bring yourself in greater alignment with your values and validate your capabilities with every decision you make. With your word in mind you are guiding the choices you make and immediately feeling the gratification of honoring that word. You validate yourself in each moment that you remember your word and let it guide you. You are someone who makes progress. You are someone with important values. You are someone who honors yourself, your passions, and your ambitions. You are powerful. You have agency. Change isn’t as hard as you thought. Change doesn’t happen all at once.

     In the moments you forget the word? There’s no repercussions. No feelings of failure or disappointment in yourself. The word is not law. It’s not a rule, limit, or boundary that can be broken and then tell you that you aren’t good enough. It lives like a whisper, a gentle reminder of what you want for yourself and what you can work towards.

     Balance was my theme of the year. Just something I pondered from time to time, and in the hard moments I remembered balance is what I was seeking, not perfection. As someone who tends towards extremes in any area – looking for balance is like listening to my spirit. I can easily push myself aside in the face of excitement, happiness, worry, fear, anxiety or any driving emotion. Balance had an unexpected effect on my year, as it made space to reflect on and process my entire life, as well as face the moment as a highly sensitive person instead of pushing the feelings down to take immediate action. It brought acceptance during the moments of hardship, and increased my capacity for love and joy because I wasn’t emotionally blunted. It made space for me.

     The unexpected result was that this was one of the hardest years of my life, and the most rewarding. I wouldn’t want any other way to live. I trust myself more than ever to be in alignment and honor myself. I don’t feel reborn in the way a person faces life with new and innocent eyes. I feel raw, sore, and like I was shoved through a small hole with incredible force. Like I’m here for the first time, but with a lifetime of pain transformed to wisdom.

     Well all that might sound scary or intimidating, why would you even want to have a word of the year? What benefit would it have for you? I can’t speak to what exact effect it may have, but generally you’ll learn more about yourself setting an intention and guiding force for the year over a strict “new years resolution” that you are painfully inflicting upon yourself. We all have long term goals, but habits aren’t built in a moment with a new years resolution.

     I am choosing again to set an intention with a word of the year- my word for 2026 is connection. Balance helped me bring temperance into my actions, set boundaries, and identify when exchanges were taking too much from me. Searching for balance brought me to unconventional choices that brought me greater peace. It freed up space for me to be present, and now I feel connection is the next step. I aim to maintain balance as I navigate the world of connecting deeper with myself, my family, my community, and my universe. Will you be choosing a word of the year? I hope you do, feel free to choose one of mine, or use this excellent article to find the right one for you! Please let me know which word you are choosing!