New what?

Every thirty-first of December, I keep my next year’s calendar close. A long time ago, my mother-in-law told me that you’re not supposed to fill in your new calendar until after midnight on the first, and I have adhered to that every since. My annual ritual is to fill in all the dates that I’m aware of and begin to plan my year, both personally and professionally. I get comfortable on the sofa after all the cheering and kissing have stopped, and test out my best handwriting, and while others in the house are getting ready for bed, I stay until all my known dates are placed in their correct squares in their correct months. Of course, the first is almost always blank, and my daughter’s birthday is just four days later, so she’s usually the first name that gets written with a cute birthday sticker in her square. Then, after her birthday, I go through the whole calendar year and fill in the rest of my kids’ names and my husband along with our anniversary and then go back to find the appointments that I’ve made and listed in the front of the book. I know: very detailed and quite possibly a little silly, but it gives my year a place to start.

To begin.

Again.

There are several points throughout the year where I sit down to begin again, and December 31st/January 1st is the second of those points, the first having already happened in September/October with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. My other points can vary because of how the calendar falls each year, but generally I reevaluate on:

• Rosh Hashanah
• Advent
• Global New Year on January 1st
• Lent
• End of the School Year (May/June)
• After Vacation

They don’t all always get their due. This year, Lent begins in the middle of February – a little too close to January 1st, but it also will depend on my mood at that time. If Rosh Hashanah is near the beginning of September that is a little too close to when our vacation ends. With my kids finished with school, the end of the school year doesn’t have as much meaning as it once did.

For my website, I try to schedule formal planning four times a year, aiming for each quarter. That gives me time to see if a new project is working, to start something that I’ve been inspired by, to take time with feedback, and to begin a limited series. Now is the time that I decide which series I will keep, and which need to be retired. I’d love your input on that, dear reader.

For my book, I really need to buckle down and write, schedule a few research days at the New York shrine, begin the arduous tasks of finding a publisher and laying out the footnotes and citations. There is also a major anniversary for St. Kateri coming up this spring that I’m excited about, but also a little melancholy that I won’t have my book finished for the timing of it. I came to the acceptance that rushing to meet that surprise and unrealistic deadline would not continue in the respect that I’ve approached St. Kateri and her story. I will have a shorter piece here on the website when the time comes, and I want to be satisfied with that.

This is just one of the things I’m struggling with in setting my 2026 goals. Intentions. Focus. Where are my struggles and achievements interconnected? Am I putting too much weight on the struggles and not enough on the achievements? How will I reconcile my spiritual life with the messages I’m receiving that I don’t agree with; that I think are soundbites and too flippant for real life? How can I be authentic and true to myself?

I’m also going to think. What do I want to come out of this new year?Who do I want to be in 2026? Will there be drastic change (I doubt it) or a gradual coming together of different aspects of life? You can’t see me, but I’m shrugging. I just don’t know.

Week one is for thinking. Are there changes I want to make? Are there things I want to do? Places I want to go? Opportunities I want to take? In four weeks, where do I want my mind, spirit, and body to be, and where do I want them to go?

*I’m shrugging again*

I guess we’ll wait and see, we’ll wait and hope, we’ll wait.

We’ll take small steps, and we’ll still get there.

Have a happy and a blessed new year.