EXPLORE 2026
It was the middle of the year, when I sent a message to the Minister. “What if,” I said, “I did a month of this class subscription? Power through as many of the back-catalogue classes as possible…and then switch focus the following month?”. The concept of a depth year is not one that’s ever worked well with me; my brain needs novelty to be creative. But the idea of a monthly deep dive is one that could work – I get the depth needed for learning and growth, and the width that feeds my creative process.
It was about a week later I dropped back into the chat. On a whim, I mentioned EXPLORE as a possibility for my word of the year. The second I hit send, I knew it was perfect for what I wanted the year to look like. I could EXPLORE creatively. I could EXPLORE geographically. I could EXPLORE what it means to be in the tail end of my early forties and rapidly approaching an empty nest. I could EXPLORE knowledge, and daily joys, and new projects and new ideas.
I also loved that I could reuse an old blog logo, and blog tagline. A million years ago, in my Flickr era (another thing I want to EXPLORE again), I had a blog called “{EXPLORE} my everyday life”, where I shared my daily photos and wee snippets of life as a mum of four kiddos under seven. I echoed this idea in my photo insta @rach.myeverydaylife, and it’s fun to now bring that full circle.
It’s a word that gives me depth, width, flexibility, scaffolding. I’m excited to see where it takes me. Hello 2026, let’s make it a magical one.
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Happy new year! Wishing you loads of creative explorations.
Happy new year!! I hope 2026 is full of amazing creativity for you x
Love this word for you!
<3 thanks! I’m excited for what it might bring! Do you have a word for this year?
“Explore” is an excellent word-of-the-year, especially when you’re as young as you are and still have some unknowns in your life. Of course, I loved the word “Flourish” too, as that’s a word that’s totally relatable to my own perspective. Wishing you the best as you explore 2026!
You have made me laugh at the thought of still being considered “young”, when I have houseful of teens who love to ask about my childhood in “the late 1900s”! But it’s also a perspective that I value, and need to be reminded of – there are still (god willing) many years and adventures ahead of me. Thank you for your support of my blog as I tried to FLOURISH, in 2025, and hope you’ll enjoy the projects I EXPLORE in 2026!