Thanks for sharing, Laura. The part about crumbs resonated with me. It’s along the lines of this Anne Lamott quote I love, “Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” It’s nice to feel more sure of ourselves and our worth as we get older, isn’t it?! All the best to you in 2026!
I’m so thankful for you and the ways you share your stuff to make it easier for the rest of us to be vulnerable. I’m so glad I found my way into your community.
"Learning in the light what I will cling to in the dark" - that is a powerful way to frame this. Filling up with beauty and goodness and truth like filling up a backpack for a journey. We will need those things when the road gets hard. I like this.
2025 was awful. I am still unpacking it. The thing is keep coming back to is that I am stronger than I thought. That i can trust my intuition. And that some obstacles that seem insurmountable aren't. Small changes can lead to big results, and I made some small changes last year that have landed me in a completely different place this January than I was last year. I cant see far down the path of 2026, but surviving 2025 with all its murkyness and pitfalls makes me more confident that I can navigate whats coming. Not that it will be easy, but that I can do it.
I also feel like I added to some of my store of goodness. Experiences and people that bring goodness and light to my life. I have a bookclub (yay!) And a knitting group, and I am starting to volunteer for a local community theater, I did a ton of volunteering and benefited so much from being around people who roll up their sleeves and solve problems on the ground. So encouraging to be a part of the solution with my actual body and time and brain - not just my wallet - although that has felt powerful too. So. A bad year, but good came out of it for me.
Thank you for these reflections! I learned a lot from you.
This is such a deeply profound and personal list to share. Thank you for trusting it to us. So much here resonates because of how very human it all is! I think the biggest lesson I learned in 2025 is that sometimes life leads you to cross a chasm and tells you to get across, you have to cross an invisible bridge. You are assured that you'll be safe and held, but you don't know that to be true at all. You just have to pick up your foot and put it down, trusting and believing that there will be something firm under your feet to carry you across. That has been the whole of 2025 for me, and I wish (so much!) that I could say that the invisible bridge is behind me, but 2026 finds me still there. But every single step forward has given me more confidence in taking that next step.
I always look forward to these review emails, Laura, and am happy to receive it even weeks into the new year!
The thought of leaving good things not being a failure resonated with me; it’s something I have been practicing too. I know what it’s like to keep doing something just because I’ve always done it. But when I continue AFTER I’m sending a needed change, it is always in my own power and is never as productive or beneficial. So bravo to you.
The other part was the fire scare you experienced. We did have a fire in our home. As we stood in the doorway, gathering our children, I looked around and thought, There is not one thing I need. Our photo albums are on a website and could be printed again; precious books could be repurchased (even though we’d lose our precious notes). EVERYTHING COULD BE REPLACED. But not the people.
I wrote a poem about it that I’ll leave for you here:
This year was a year for certain, mostly the last quarter. It sent me running back to therapy and finally doing the hard work I should have been doing years ago. I appreciate your vulnerability, and honesty. Really, being human is hard but darn, the rewards are lovely.
Being right gets you 3 seconds of fame. I get that now too after many moments of pontificating. 2025 was a bear for sure. The entertainment business kicked me out like a bad boyfriend. But by pivoting fast into education I was reminded of my resilience. I think that’s my word for 2026. Thanks for sharing LT.
I heard Gabor Mate say something along the lines of “it’s our responsibility to work on/grow from our trauma/hardships; self-pity is avoiding that responsibility.” That’s what I needed to hear in 2025. Great post ❤️
I very much resonate with your lesson to do the good work then let things land where they land. A lesson that coalesced for me at the end of last year was to “keep planting seeds, and see what God grows.” Not working myself up over outcomes, not trying to manifest elaborate gardens, just planting tiny seeds.
I have never been one to look back and reflect but reading your work inspired me to dust of a journal in a back drawer to capture 2026. Thank you for sharing and reminding us that being vulnerable is a gift.
"Do good work and let things fall where they may." // I think I've been learning and re-leaning this for 15+ years of making stuff on the internet 😜 Loved this list, thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you for putting these words out there for us, being vulnerable and inviting us to freely admit that we're right there with you.
One thing I have learned is that I am not in control, even when I like to think I am.
At the end of 2024, I repeatedly said that "2024 kicked my butt" and I was glad to move into 2025. And then 2025 was harder than 2024. I can't even say that one year prepared me for the next because the experiences that were hard had nothing to do with each other, they just piled one on top of another. I'm learning what to carry with me into the dark, and what will only weigh me down.
I'm bookmarking this so I can come back to it as I continue to unpack all that has transpired in the last 24 months or so.
"I'm learning what to carry with me into the dark, and what will only weigh me down." - YES! Exactly. Me, too. Even when it's hard to put down those heavy things for all kinds of reasons.
I'm sorry you've had such a difficult few years. It feels a little hard to imagine currently, but I do hope that 2026 brings us all something different.
Thanks for sharing, Laura. The part about crumbs resonated with me. It’s along the lines of this Anne Lamott quote I love, “Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” It’s nice to feel more sure of ourselves and our worth as we get older, isn’t it?! All the best to you in 2026!
Oooh love this.
This feels like ten chapters in a really good book I would like to read.
Oh gosh, Shawn, that put a lump in my throat.
I think Rick Rubin would say follow that emotion…
I’m so thankful for you and the ways you share your stuff to make it easier for the rest of us to be vulnerable. I’m so glad I found my way into your community.
"Learning in the light what I will cling to in the dark" - that is a powerful way to frame this. Filling up with beauty and goodness and truth like filling up a backpack for a journey. We will need those things when the road gets hard. I like this.
2025 was awful. I am still unpacking it. The thing is keep coming back to is that I am stronger than I thought. That i can trust my intuition. And that some obstacles that seem insurmountable aren't. Small changes can lead to big results, and I made some small changes last year that have landed me in a completely different place this January than I was last year. I cant see far down the path of 2026, but surviving 2025 with all its murkyness and pitfalls makes me more confident that I can navigate whats coming. Not that it will be easy, but that I can do it.
I also feel like I added to some of my store of goodness. Experiences and people that bring goodness and light to my life. I have a bookclub (yay!) And a knitting group, and I am starting to volunteer for a local community theater, I did a ton of volunteering and benefited so much from being around people who roll up their sleeves and solve problems on the ground. So encouraging to be a part of the solution with my actual body and time and brain - not just my wallet - although that has felt powerful too. So. A bad year, but good came out of it for me.
Thank you for these reflections! I learned a lot from you.
“I’m just not that hungry.”🎤 Great list, but I especially resonated with that bullet point and taking crumbs.
This is such a deeply profound and personal list to share. Thank you for trusting it to us. So much here resonates because of how very human it all is! I think the biggest lesson I learned in 2025 is that sometimes life leads you to cross a chasm and tells you to get across, you have to cross an invisible bridge. You are assured that you'll be safe and held, but you don't know that to be true at all. You just have to pick up your foot and put it down, trusting and believing that there will be something firm under your feet to carry you across. That has been the whole of 2025 for me, and I wish (so much!) that I could say that the invisible bridge is behind me, but 2026 finds me still there. But every single step forward has given me more confidence in taking that next step.
❤️
I always look forward to these review emails, Laura, and am happy to receive it even weeks into the new year!
The thought of leaving good things not being a failure resonated with me; it’s something I have been practicing too. I know what it’s like to keep doing something just because I’ve always done it. But when I continue AFTER I’m sending a needed change, it is always in my own power and is never as productive or beneficial. So bravo to you.
The other part was the fire scare you experienced. We did have a fire in our home. As we stood in the doorway, gathering our children, I looked around and thought, There is not one thing I need. Our photo albums are on a website and could be printed again; precious books could be repurchased (even though we’d lose our precious notes). EVERYTHING COULD BE REPLACED. But not the people.
I wrote a poem about it that I’ll leave for you here:
What the Fire Couldn’t Take
by Sarah Steele
The fire took our things but not our love.
Love surrounded us, indeed engulfed,
But not with flame that bites and devastates.
Devastated, we, the helpless, watched,
While neighbors quickly came with gushing aid,
Aid that offered ice cream, keys, and coats.
As family prayed and smoke poured ever out,
Out, the love came pouring just as hot.
And when frail heads hit pillows late that night—
Night spent shaking in another's home—
We counted blessings more than items lost
And lost our fear, thanks to abundance known.
I am so sorry you experienced a fire devastation, and thank you for sharing your words here.
This year was a year for certain, mostly the last quarter. It sent me running back to therapy and finally doing the hard work I should have been doing years ago. I appreciate your vulnerability, and honesty. Really, being human is hard but darn, the rewards are lovely.
Being right gets you 3 seconds of fame. I get that now too after many moments of pontificating. 2025 was a bear for sure. The entertainment business kicked me out like a bad boyfriend. But by pivoting fast into education I was reminded of my resilience. I think that’s my word for 2026. Thanks for sharing LT.
Great read! Thank you for sharing your insights.
Laura - I love your heart, honesty, and authenticity. You have a wonderful knack for framing and reframing thoughts and issues. Best wishes in 2026!
I heard Gabor Mate say something along the lines of “it’s our responsibility to work on/grow from our trauma/hardships; self-pity is avoiding that responsibility.” That’s what I needed to hear in 2025. Great post ❤️
I very much resonate with your lesson to do the good work then let things land where they land. A lesson that coalesced for me at the end of last year was to “keep planting seeds, and see what God grows.” Not working myself up over outcomes, not trying to manifest elaborate gardens, just planting tiny seeds.
I have never been one to look back and reflect but reading your work inspired me to dust of a journal in a back drawer to capture 2026. Thank you for sharing and reminding us that being vulnerable is a gift.
oh I'm so glad - thank you for telling me this!
"Do good work and let things fall where they may." // I think I've been learning and re-leaning this for 15+ years of making stuff on the internet 😜 Loved this list, thank you for sharing it with us.
I learn it and relearn it and share the lesson and then have to relearn it again. 🤣
Thank you for putting these words out there for us, being vulnerable and inviting us to freely admit that we're right there with you.
One thing I have learned is that I am not in control, even when I like to think I am.
At the end of 2024, I repeatedly said that "2024 kicked my butt" and I was glad to move into 2025. And then 2025 was harder than 2024. I can't even say that one year prepared me for the next because the experiences that were hard had nothing to do with each other, they just piled one on top of another. I'm learning what to carry with me into the dark, and what will only weigh me down.
I'm bookmarking this so I can come back to it as I continue to unpack all that has transpired in the last 24 months or so.
"I'm learning what to carry with me into the dark, and what will only weigh me down." - YES! Exactly. Me, too. Even when it's hard to put down those heavy things for all kinds of reasons.
I'm sorry you've had such a difficult few years. It feels a little hard to imagine currently, but I do hope that 2026 brings us all something different.