One Word 2026: Illuminate 🔆

During the final week of 2025, Chris and I headed out on a last-minute roadtrip. As we traversed the interstate, we listened to the Libro.fm audiobook, Undimmed, soon to be published by Cecily Mak. She presents a unique framework called the Eight Awarenesses to help us deal with anything we use to escape discomfort. She refers to these bad habits as dimming behaviors—a wide variety of actions we engage in to take the edge off.

 

As I considered the dimmers in my own life, I reflected on my word from 2025: Light. It served me well during the last 365 days. When my reflective, supportive husband asked, "Are you sure you don't need to keep Light for another year?" I paused. During the previous trip around the sun I felt lighter. Moments of joy were more frequent, and I experienced a renewed sense of professional wellness. For over a decade, I've been happy to wave goodbye to my annual word, but this year I wanted to hold on just a little longer. So I began to consider what word represented the opposite of dull or dim. Wallah! Illuminate!

verb

1. 1.

   make (something) visible or bright by shining light on it; light up.

   "a flash of lightning illuminated the house"
2. 2.

   help to clarify or explain.

   "placing the events of the 1930s in a broader historical context helps to illuminate their significance"
3. 3.

   decorate (a page or letter in a manuscript) by hand with gold, silver, or colored designs.

   "this is a carefully written, large-format manuscript illuminated by Leonardo Bellini"

This multiple meaning word feels similar to light, yet it pushes me a little further. It invites a heightened sense of awareness and increased conscientiousness. During 2026, I want to continue to experience moments of light-heartedness, while simultaneously tackling tricky patterns of behavior that hold me back. I want less judgement and more acceptance, less neurotic DNA and more stillness, and less dimmers and more illuminators. 

Across my 40's, I've slowly begun to trust my inner-knowing.  There is still plenty of healing to do, and my hope is that as I continue to make nice with all my various parts, more will be revealed. I am often unaware of the dimmers in my life, which include scrolling through social media on autopilot, mindlessly snacking on crap food, and over-indulging in spirits. Willfully and knowingly doing these things is one thing. However, more often than not, I'm unconsciously going through the motions with limited awareness of how they impact my wellbeing. Illumination means clarity of purpose and increased intention—two goals worth pursuing. 

In my 5th grade classroom, I live for the light-bulb moments when students move from limited understanding to deep, abiding knowledge. Learning requires illumination because when we know better, we do better.  In 2026, my hope is to live a life where my aspirational values align with my practiced values. May the year be full of unexpected insights, new realizations, and multiple moments of clarity. 

“And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” ~Pico Iyer