Planning ahead requires trust that the future will offer relative stability free from war, famine, disease, violence, and oppression. It’s a beautiful, fragile gift we here in the modern U.S. have had for decades in comparison to the rest of the world and other civilizations throughout history. Can we have that same confidence as the clock strikes midnight on 2025, and 2026 is ushered in? I’m not so sure. If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that everything can change.

I realized my so-called “potential” was what other people wanted me to be so they could benefit from access to my resources. So they could benefit from access to me as a resource. It was a pattern that had played out time and again with family, friends, coworkers, and partners. The only person who didn’t benefit from that access to me was me. Like the Tower in tarot, the foundation I had was unstable and could not support the life that I wanted to build for myself, so I tore