Moving into Alignment

On the cusp of discarding 2025 (tabernak!) …it’s time for me to share (for the 13^th time!) what my word or frame is heading into the new year. Last year I wrote about living my season of “Yes, and…No,” and yes, I did get the tattoos…

And this year’s word is a natural byproduct of continuing to live in this season. Ongoing discernment of the choices I make and why I make them is leading me to an internal reality that is this year’s word: alignment.

I mean…it’s not quite as simple as that. It’s been a year.

My original grand “project” was to tackle a few internal challenges in the ongoing work-in-progress that is me, “do the work,” as they say, and come out on the other side the better for it. Turns out I don’t live in a vacuum, though, and other people had their own Projects (2025, anyone?) and our world got even more seriously fucked up.

My plan shifted to simply trying to make it through the day. Day after heart-and-soul-assaulting day. My prescient nightmare had a sequel that was a compounded level of scary that rocked me to my core.

Amidst that fear, though, the work—in the beginning, without purposeful, conscious intention—continued. It was as if, in order to endure the initial shockwaves of our “new world order,” my subconscious was sifting and sorting through my own personal sieve all the crap of the world that was enabling or letting this shit happen…and things started falling away.

[This is the point where I think, Hmm…I may be sharing a little more of my crazy than the average girl, but… oh, well! If I’m the only one feeling this way, then…you’ve learned a new perspective, and if not—well, then maybe we’ve connected.]

I knew I had to will my overwhelmed self to roll up my sleeves and actively work the sieve. While the results of the work my subconscious managed on her own were fully aligned—I needed to consciously examine key tenets and beliefs so that I could claim them as mine or eschew them because they were not aligned with my heart and soul. I wanted to fully own this sifting that felt like a now nonnegotiable process.  

Full disclosure: it was painful. Institutions…people…that I once thought were built on a foundation of solid, dependable rock were revealed to have footings in quicksand. Things I believed in all my life no longer mean the same or hold true. At least for me. And darn if that doesn’t have a wild ripple effect. Wild.

But what is left…well, that is fully aligned with…me.

Just what does that mean, though?

It doesn’t mean that I’ve done away with anything or anyone who doesn’t agree with me. I believe our inability to work through differences is a big part of our problem—though I do hold exception for certain “camps” of disagreement. For some, I just…can’t…Closed heart/closed mind…we done.

What it does mean is that that which is within me is aligned. What I believe. What I hold true. The tenets I follow. The integrity I hold. The truths I uphold. Mine.

There’s a lot more to be said about the “guts” of what I’m really talking about, but you just stopped by for a few hundred words, so I won’t go deep. (You’re welcome.) But in the “both things can be true” category, it has made for a great upheaval within me but also a peaceful resolve—and has helped bring about personal clarity during a time of tremendous chaos.  

And I’m not done—I don’t think I’ll ever be. It seems ongoing, this tending to alignment—like going to a soul chiropractor when something feels out of whack.

Finally, while it may sound like this is all inward-facing work (or navel-gazing, for the critics)—I think this clarity results in me being better connected to others, too—something we hear over and again is so critical during these challenging times. And I’m so very grateful for this.

So…yeah…it’s been a year. And while alignment may not be what is at the top of your list for 2026, whatever the case—I do hope that your year is full of health, hope, laughter, and love. (And also…Go Bears!)