2026 Finds Me Wanting to Grow My Community

2026 has arrived, and my winter break is coming to an end. 

Every December is a time of reflection for me as the work winds down, the holidays arrive, my birthday happens, and another year is put into the history books.

I still go through the three word exercise, but don’t always share it publicly anymore. I find the exercise more potent than the explanation, and we each need to find out what works best for us. Especially in these dark and dangerous times.

Last year, I chose to focus primarily on my students. A lot is going on around me, and after years of actively trying to change things, I decided I’d narrow my focus so that every day I’d be working to improve what I could control. It helped keep me sane through a lot of turmoil, and while it wasn’t easy for me to ignore so many things, I did better than I thought.

This is my last semester with required weekly meetings with my Posse. I don’t know where the time has gone, but these ten young men and women mean the world to me. My relationship with each one of them is unique, but I’d do anything for any of them. 

After winning the Digital Marketing Competition this past fall, I was pushed to start interacting with more faculty from different schools. It is something I’ve thought a lot about, but never got the kick I needed to start it. It began with a visit to Bryant, and recently, an old friend connected me with several others around the country. I’ve been finding more on Threads every day and will do more writing to find others. If you know someone in academia or working with young adults that you think I should meet, please introduce us.

We rang in the new year in California. My mother-in-law had always wanted to see the Tournament of Roses Parade. While it rained on the day of the parade for the first time in twenty years, we had a great trip full of memories. At the end, we flew back to Arizona, and both kids flew in for a lovely weekend together. Sadly, Laura came down with the flu (she is almost back to full strength; get your vaccines!), so it was a quieter time together than planned, but it was still a good time.

While it seems a lifetime away, I’m starting to think about what I want to do this summer. The obvious thing is to dig into my next book or some consulting work, finally. Those are always on my to do list, but are there other opportunities I should chase? I’m having a conversation next week about some possible international work, but it feels too good to be true. If I can help you in some way, let me know.

As I type this, our country continues its downward spiral. Every day, something new and more evil comes to light. I hope that everyone reading this is finding ways to survive all of this. Some days I do better than others, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

Everyone online is looking back at 2016 right now. To flip it, I thought about what I want 2036 to look like. That gave me some big smiles, and it might help yo,u too.

I hope the next twelve months are filled with more good than bad for each of you. I hope we all make it to the other side of this madness. Celebrate all the victories and look for the good whenever possible.

Catch ya on the flipside.