New Year, Same you

Lightscape 2025 at the San Diego Botanical Gardens

I always feel inspired at the San Diego Botanic Garden’s annual holiday Lightscape. This year, due to a poorly-timed illness and lots of rain here in Southern California, I rescheduled my visit to the Lightscape’s final weekend, which was technically after the holidays and into the brand new year. Light is inspiring, yes. So is creativity, and music, and frequent snack stations along the way. So you really can’t miss with the Lightscape, but of course I was taking it all in with the usual blend of rose-colored optimism and hope that overtakes me on January 1.

Resolutions and goals are right in my wheelhouse. I like resets and shifts, new ambitions and lofty targets. I like knowing change is possible, that anything is possible. A new year brings that fresh slate that feels irresistibly positive and inspiring. Yet at the same time, it’s rare for any change made at the start of a year to really change you. Fundamental you. Sure, you might lose weight (but probably not), you might exercise (for a month), you might finally start that new business, quit that terrible job, make amends with an estranged parent or sibling, but you’ll still be you.

So don’t put too much pressure on yourself to change. I think the word that feels better to me in this new year is improve. Because we can all improve, in any number of ways. I’d like to get a little better at being service-minded, really looking for opportunities—even small ones—to help others. I’d also like to get better at not getting so upset at the things that upset me—the kids who use my front porch (no one else’s, even their own) to run back and forth on; the new neighbor who parks big trucks in front of their garage, blocking the rest of us in; the one post office employee who always charges me more to mail my Etsy orders than any of the others do. And so on. I know I can be better. I certainly want to, anyway.

With this spirit of improvement in whatever arenas to which you are putting particular focus in 2026, I wish you all success and happiness! And to keep this post at least somewhat in the literary realm, I mentioned in the last post that my 2025 reading goal was 15 books, and I’m happy to say I hit it at 10:41pm on December 31. I also mentioned last time that maybe I could up my goal to 20 books for 2026, and I have! Improvement! And still a long ways to go, but I’m about 20% done with the manuscript of my next book, so 2026 will be full of more writing. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Happy New Year!