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Naturally, entering 2026 I’ve been ruminating on what my goals for the year ahead might be.

In recent years, in lieu of reso-lieu shuns I’ve adopted the now-common practice of choosing a single word to act as a guide.

This year, though, every word I’ve come up with feels restrictive rather than expansive. The first that surfaced were fun and play, and immediately they felt like pressure, as if the whole year would somehow fail if it wasn’t consistently joyful.

I’ve always struggled with wanting to know what’s next. That impulse usually sends me into broad-stroke action meant to move things forward faster, which, more often than not, ends up blowing up in my face.

For years, I’ve heard the same quiet instruction from my intuition: be patient, trust.

I think I’m finally realizing that to really do that, I may have to let go of goals altogether.

The practice of constantly orienting toward the future seems to be keeping me from the thing I want most: the feeling that right here, right now, is enough.

That realization settled in this morning. After a long, exploratory conversation with my sister the night before, I woke up feeling a little clearer. I pulled a tarot card from Kim Krans’s Archetypes deck, thinking, This is it, I’ll find my word.

The card I drew was The Riddle.

It was as if the universe were saying, "B*TCHHHH please. STAHP. You don’t get to know. Let the f** go and sink into the mystery of life, mmk?* (Yes, my guiding voice uses many expletives and speaks in the voice of Wanda Sykes.)

The description reads:

The Riddle appears when the energy is deep and mysterious, like the elusive wisdom in a Zen koan. Focusing harder won’t do it. Neither will increased effort. Time, surrender, and humor are your only allies.

Okay. I get it. Like quicksand through an hourglass, so are the days of my life.

So what I've decided for now is that this year I’m taking my hands off the wheel and moving to the backseat.

My only restriction is that I’m not allowed to know where we’re going or ask ‘are we there yet?’

My only directive is to fully take in all of my surroundings, while singing songs, eating good snacks and playing games with whoever’s sitting next to me.

Get in, loser, we’re going into the unknown. 🚗