Setting intentions…

…in which I ponder on a word of the year.

Jan 07, 2026

The end of 2025 was hard. My family lost someone very special to us, and the navigating of that was hard. I’m not ready to talk about her yet: I am still spending time every day remembering and mourning, and for now that is all I can manage. But I will say that she was a massive supporter of my art and my business and just me, and I want to commemorate her by continuing to do my best to find and celebrate the beauty of this world.

I have disliked the idea of January being the time of new beginnings, of starting afresh, and of becoming a better person for many years. It feels uncomfortable to find the energy to forge new habits and create new beginnings when most of nature (humans are part of nature, in case you forgot) is resting. January in the northern hemisphere is cold and damp, a time for doing cosy activities like reading, knitting, jigsaw making, and maybe a little painting. It is not a good time to try a new diet, join a gym, or shake up your business plan. I am convinced the main reason New Year’s Resolutions fail is because nature has not yet finished with the old year. Save it until Spring!

Setting intentions, however, is something different, and entirely appropriate for the season.

Setting intentions is about dreaming, aspiring, quiet planning and researching. It is fantasising about the future, then thinking about how to make that future happen. It is making wishes, and putting plans in place to make them come true.

I like to choose a word of the year as a way to set my intentions across my life; finding the perfect one that will cover my business, my family, and my self is not an easy task! Fortunately, the New Year for nature is not until February at least, so there’s lots of time for dithering and changing my mind.

Initially, I thought about Balance, as I have struggled over the past couple of years to balance work and home life, and teaching with art making. I think balance is a common challenge for self-employed people, especially those who work in their homes. But as I considered, I thought that perhaps my own balance isn’t far off. The problem is more about recognising where I am putting my energy. (I briefly considered Energy as a great word at this point, but I know from experience that this will improve as the buds swell without much help.)

I then mulled over Authenticity, and I even thought for a few days that I had found my word for 2026. Authenticity is a word I think about a lot: in person I believe I am authentic, but it can be hard on social media. Or maybe social media is the opposite of authentic… Then there is my disdain at the rise of AI imagery, and my desire to ensure my art and the dreams behind it are recognised as authentic. But that is risking a descent into ranting. What is authenticity? How do I show authenticity whilst being actually authentic, and not coming across as disingenuous? Am I even truely authentic? Or am in fact a fake artist, deceiving the public into believing I have a creative bone in my body? And the spiral into imposter syndrome is upon me!

The word I have come to now is Clarity. I need clarity of vision, to see both the sort of art I want to bring to the world, and how I want to bring creativity to others. I want the clarity of recognising when I am doing well, and when I need to make changes to my ideas and plans. I think, for now at least, Clarity is the word.

Do you choose a word of the year? Or do you have your own ritual for the cold and quiet time of the year? I want to hear about it!

Before I go, there is one plan I am dreaming through for 2026 that I want to tell you about. I am planning a Bird of the Month celebration each month, starting in March (the start of new year and new life for much of the natural world in Britain). I’ll tell you more about it soon, but for now, thanks for reading!

The art here is my work so far on a long, long painting of long tailed tits. It will probably get folded into a zig-zag book. Please ask if you want to know more!