Vellichor Ink

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that 2026 is bringing peace, rest, and joy.

Apparently my last post of 2025 was a bit depressing…just so everyone knows, that was really light and happy for me, considering the shit show that was last year…lol. All joking aside, thanks to everyone who sent kind words and messages-they were greatly appreciated. I think it’s so important to acknowledge the good, the bad, and everything in between. It can be so easy to get caught up in comparison with other people and even past versions of ourselves that we forget that life is messy and unpredictable and challenging alongside the beauty and wonder of it all.

So far the year has started out…hopeful. We did the 13 wishes ritual this year–we wrote out thirteen wishes/intentions for the year, folded them up individually, and blindly took one out and burned it every night for the twelve nights of Yule. On the last night we opened the remaining wish and that’s our focus for the year. We taped them up on the fridge alongside our regular Family Intentions for the year and we’ll all make sure to be putting our energy towards those things. The other twelve–we gave over to the Universe and sent them out into the ether. Still important, still out there, but not as much our responsibility as the last one. It’s the first time we’ve done it and all three of us really enjoyed it (yes, even the teen!).

I think those little rituals that give some purpose and intention, especially in the cold, dark winter nights, is always a positive thing and gives us things to look forward to (and hold onto) when we’re missing the longer days.

This year feels different already. I read quite a few posts at the end of the year about how 2025 was the year of the snake and a year of shedding things that no longer serve you and shedding things you’ve outgrown. I really feel like that was the big lesson of last year and why it was so uncomfortable. It was the season for lessons learned, change, growth, and more change. I don’t think there is any way we could have lessened the discomfort of that “shedding” last year, but I do feel like we’ve begun this year in brand new skin, ready to step into a new season and with more authenticity.

There are adventures on the horizon, stories brewing, and a hopeful feeling in my chest that it’s all going to work out. (But I’m still knocking on wood and trying not to startle the sense of peace that’s resting gently on my shoulders…).

I hope that you and yours are having a great start to the year and that, if you felt that distinct unbecoming of 2025, that 2026 is a gentle year of knowing, peace, and authenticity that doesn’t feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar.