2026 is here, Happy New Year!

The girls and I came back last night after spending a few days in Spain, where the holidays continue until after January 6th (the Three Wise Men). Here in Ireland, the holidays are over, and it´s time to return to school (or in my case, to work), so we´re going through re-education.

(Photo taken a few days ago in Madrid, in a park called Retiro, which is Spanish for "retreat". Some day I´ll tell you about my end-of-year "double retreat".)

Looking for an inspirational quote to set up the year for a good start, I bumped into this one from Neil Gaiman, and I feel it´s the perfect fit for me right now; I hope you like it too:

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

What do you think? Do you see yourself practising this? Coincidentally, the theme I´ve chosen for myself this year is the word PRACTICE, so it fits perfectly, especially the part about not worrying that it´s not perfect. Now, I´m aware this is going to be a big challenge for me, but I´m also fully convinced it will be worth it.

What about you? Do you accept the challenge of making mistakes?