Not New You

Hello, 2026! 

And also—if we’re being honest—2026 has not arrived lightly.

It’s been a while, my dearest darlings. The last time I wrote to you was back in December, and I can’t believe it’s already February. We are fully in Aquarius season. As always, happy birthday to all my Aquarius babes.

I’ve been intentional about not writing or posting here for a bit. Part of that was practical, another shift in my business, another round of changes to my website. If you’re a business owner, you already know this rhythm well: evolution often looks like revisiting, refining, and rebuilding more than once.

But there’s more to it than that.

As someone living in the greater Twin Cities area, the start of this year has carried a weight that can’t be ignored. There has been trauma. Sadness. Grief. Fear. A kind of quiet terror that settles into daily life when safety feels uncertain and loss feels close.

And yet, alongside all of this, I’ve witnessed something else too.

I’ve watched the community show up for one another, not perfectly, not loudly, but consistently. 

People checking in. People protecting each other. People refusing to look away. There has been pain, yes, but there has also been presence.

And that matters.

At the same time, this season has brought grief closer to home for me as well.

Not the kind of grief that comes from a single moment or event, but the slower kind. The kind that arrives when you realize some relationships can no longer be held the way they once were. 

When certain family dynamics now require boundaries. When you understand, fully and without apology, that you are no longer responsible for comforting people in the choices they make—especially when those choices conflict with your values, your ethics, or your sense of humanity.

That realization hurts.

And it also clarifies.

For those of you who have been walking with me these past two years, know this: Your Own Pathway has always been about the journey of finding yourself—even in loneliness, grief, and pain—and also the freedom that comes with finally allowing yourself to be who you are.

December Was the Reckoning

In December, the last blog I wrote was about a moment of reckoning—the quiet realization that a path you once walked is no longer yours.

Not because you failed it.
But because it was complete.

Something had shifted. And continuing forward in the same direction would have meant abandoning myself.

I didn’t know what would come next.
I just knew I couldn’t go back.

The Word That Landed

During the week of Christmas, I attended a yoga retreat. During the session, we were asked to choose a word for the year ahead.

Not a resolution.
Not a goal.
A word.

I sat with it.

And what came through was simple and steady:

Aligned.

Not reinventing myself.
Not becoming someone new.

Aligned.

As I step into 2026, alignment is my intention—not as a trend or a mantra, but as a posture.

Alignment means my choices reflect my values.
My boundaries reflect my truth.
My presence reflects who I already am.

This year isn’t about “new me” or “new you.”

It’s about orientation.

About standing where you are, honestly.
About moving forward without abandoning yourself.
About living in alignment—even when it costs you comfort, approval, or familiarity.

That’s the work I’m committed to now.

What Alignment Actually Means (Especially in 2026)

Alignment isn’t aesthetic.
It’s not calm-for-show.
It’s not bypassing what’s hard.

Alignment is when your values, your nervous system, and your decisions are no longer arguing with each other.

It means:

• You don’t rush just because the calendar tells you to.
  
  
• You don’t perform hope when discernment is required.
  
  
• You can say yes, not yet, or no without self-betrayal.
  
  

In a year like this—in a world like this—alignment is not passive.

It’s stabilizing.

Aquarius Season: Orientation, Not Reinvention

Aquarius season doesn’t ask for reinvention.
It asks for perspective.

For stepping far enough back to see what’s actually happening, internally and collectively, and then choosing where you stand.

Aquarius energy values truth over comfort.
Clarity over fantasy.
Integrity over applause.

So this season, I’m not chasing a new version of myself.

I’m standing with the one who already knows what’s no longer hers—and what is.

From December to Now

In December, I wrote about releasing.
In January, I practiced restraint and presence.
Now, in February, I’m naming orientation.

I am aligned.
I am available.
I am ready.

Ready doesn’t mean everything is light.
It means I’m no longer negotiating with myself.

And that’s not a reset.

That’s realignment.

An Empress Outro (Because We’ve Graduated)

I used to call you my queen darlings.

And that language served us—for a time.

But queens still negotiate their worth.
They still explain themselves.
They still wait for permission inside systems that benefit from their silence.

We’ve graduated.



This space is for sovereign women now.
Empress-level in posture—not entitled, not performative—but self-governed.

Empresses don’t rule one thing.
They rule themselves.

They don’t ask to be chosen.
They choose alignment.

So no—this isn’t new me or new you energy.

This is old me—aligned.
The version who knows what no longer belongs.
The version who stopped negotiating her values.
The version who stands steady, even when it costs comfort or approval.

So welcome to 2026, my empress darlings.

Not new.
Not reinvented.

Aligned.

Until next time, empress darlings.
No crowns. No performance.
Just alignment.