New Year 2026, paper collage

Strange as it sounds, steady, patient growth in freedom is probably the most difficult task of all, requiring the greatest courage. Thus if the term “hero” is used in this discussion at all, it must refer not to the special acts of outstanding persons, but to the heroic element potentially in every man. – Rollo May

You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential. – Joseph Campbell

For me, 2025 stands out as a creative year that ended in a particularly volatile and unpredictable way. I made a great deal of collage art in 2025. I started writing poetry again. And I finally finished my self-fashioning project (a method for relating to the feminine archetypes). I spent most of the year moving freely between these various aspects of The Used Life—and feeling great about it—until November came. That’s when something within me decidedly shifted.

In early November, I suffered the loss of a pet, and shortly thereafter, a series of happenings forced me to re-examine what I was doing here. Did I really want to continue juggling all aspects of this project with the same intensity? What was my “why”? Did I even have a reason to continue? 

I began 2025 feeling like I had finally hit my stride, like I was on firm-footing creatively and otherwise, and the year ended with me feeling as if everything I’d worked so hard to build was lying in tatters. I was grieving, despondent, and utterly disoriented. I had, indeed, entered the forest at the darkest point.

But, loss is not the energy with which I begin 2026, nor is defeat. To the contrary: I begin this year, first and foremost, with a profound sense of faith. Faith in God, faith in myself, and a renewed belief that if I have the courage to listen to my own being, I will follow the path that is intended for me.

Indeed, for all the challenges November brought my way, I did end the year with plenty of insight and a new direction: The Four Principles. And, much to my own surprise, I now find myself in a position in which I very much want to release aspects of The Used Life, and that release feels really nice.

When I follow the direction of my own being, these are easy choices to make: I don’t feel like focusing on either collage or poetry for the foreseeable future–and so I won’t. I made both a New Year’s and a Christmas collage because these are traditions I enjoy, but I don’t feel like picking up my scissors or my X-acto knife again for quite awhile. I’d much rather pour my creative energies into improving my bird photography skills, as well as developing ideas like The Four Principles.

The lesson: sometimes the most courageous thing we can do is let go. Let go of the ideas and preconceptions we have about who we are and where we’re headed. If we aren’t careful, these can become limitations. The hero’s journey is made step by step. If you can see the path laid out in front of you, it isn’t your path. Only if we have the courage to listen to our being will we move steadily forward and forge a path where there is none. This is the “heroic element” in each of us. 

And this is what I wish for you in 2026: may you have the courage to walk where there is no path. May you find joy in the fulfillment of your potential, but may you also have the courage to release everything in its right time. May you be given the gift of grace in your darkest hours, and may you find faith, hope, and courage when you need them most.