Where I’m Finding Hope These Days: A Year-End Reflection

Well, here we are. Winter Solstice has passed, Hanukkah has passed, Christmas is nearly here, and we are coming to the end of 2025. I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, whatever holidays you celebrate. And if this season does not feel happy—because for many, these are very heavy times—I hope and pray that you get through it as best you can, that you find loving community to surround yourself with, and that you experience moments of peace, healing, and even joy as we move into 2026.

I don’t know how this year has been for you, but for me it has been quite the rollercoaster ride. At times it has felt like a rollercoaster we didn’t exactly ask to be on—and yet one that is still taking us on an adventure, if we can find it within ourselves to see it that way. How we experience the highs and lows depends, at least in part, on how well we have learned to adapt to whatever life throws our way, and how resourced we are with the support and tools we need to get through. 

I never want to be dismissive of the intensity of suffering in challenging times, especially for those carrying the heaviest circumstances. I know from my own life how real and overwhelming those seasons can be. And at the same time, I sense that together we can still draw upon what is good within us—and between us—to meet the negativity and difficulties we see in the world. Doing so will require courage: the courage to look within, to do the often uncomfortable inner healing work that feels more necessary now than ever.

If we are tired of seeing people project vitriolic hatred onto others because of their own unhealed pain, we must also be willing to notice the ways we may still project our own judgments. If we tend to place all the blame on certain people or groups, it may be time to gently—but honestly—hold up the mirror and look at ourselves. Yes, it is much easier to identify the “real” troublemakers (which, conveniently, is never us 😉).

But if we miss seeing these challenging and divisive times as an opportunity to grow and heal, we inadvertently choose the lower road—one that leads to more of the same chaos and strife. If there ever was a moment that invited us to look within and heal ourselves, it is now. And while this work isn’t easy, I truly believe that if we get real with ourselves and with one another, a different—and more hopeful—future is still possible.

I don’t just believe this is possible—I know it is. I’ve seen it through the clients and students in the Transformational Healing class. When I hear about relationships being mended because of the inner work done in class, I feel hope. When I hear that people are learning to truly love themselves, I feel hope. When I hear about daily life becoming more peaceful, and ordinary interactions becoming more enjoyable instead of problematic, I feel hope. When I see friends speaking more kindly to themselves, I feel hope. And when I see people softening their outer shell because they know—deep in their bones—that they are lovable just as they are, I feel hope.
So yes, we can still feel joy, even in these days—and maybe especially in these days. There are a lot of cracks…in all of us. But that is how the light gets in. So embrace your cracks, and let the Divine shine right through them.

You are loved. So loved. And all will be well.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your 2025. I hope and pray that I can serve you well in 2026. Thank you for giving me hope, and for being part of a larger community of people who are willing to do whatever it takes to make life better for all of us.

Sending you so much love,
Jen

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