This time of year feels like the time between time. My mind says it should be a quiet time between the wrapping up of an old year and the start to unwrapping a new one. But here I am, going down rabbit holes.

With my Word of the Year for 2026 being ‘Wander’, it’s a goal to spend more time NOT reaching for goals. But to simply wander around the idea of ‘possible’ goals and follow the ones that beckon.

My goal is less hectic-ness and more time to reflect, wander, and ponder. Time for careful consideration of the path forward. Nothing is really ‘under control’, but it makes me feel better to imagine I have some sort of say in how my days unfold. I am going to try and be less concerned about timelines.

The Siren Call of Rabbit Holes

I am a wanderer for sure, and I love going down rabbit holes. But sometimes the timing just isn’t right to do so. This image represents a rabbit hole. And I don’t have time to go down it right now.

So, while I am trying to avoid strict timelines and goals, there are some things that definitely do need doing within certain time-frames. But there are also things that need doing that I can put off until a more convenient time. This image represents one of the latter.

So, learning to give myself the grace to decline invitations to descend into rabbit holes just because they present themselves. I have a tendency to drop everything else and dive in when a rabbit hole appears.

In this case, I was proud that I did make the note that this one needed to be explored, but pushed it off to a time when I had the time to actually dedicate to doing so. The problem did get solved!

Rabbit Holes that Repel

And then there are the paths I don’t WANT to take but must. It’s January now, and that means time to get ready to file income taxes.

Ugggh. It’s always a rabbit hole with lots of turns and twists and none of them particularly interesting. Tracking down lost receipts, proof of income, what goes where on the Schedule C… it’s not that anything is ‘lost’, it’s just that somehow I forgot to print one that’s entered into my spreadsheet and then I have to go combing through files to find it. If I can’t find it after all that effort, then I just take it off of the spreadsheet.

Nothing inspires me to want a nap more than doing the tax work, hahaha.

The Fun, Opportunistic Rabbit Holes

This morning I renewed my commitment to doing my morning jog/walks. This block of time is where I get to wander at will after the jogging part is done.

Until I actually get into better shape again, the only kind of wandering happening is my eyes and mind as I trudge myself back up the hills to the house once I’ve reached my jog destination point.

But I do find interesting things to see and explore while doing that. This morning I found a fossil and a good photograph to add to this post and my collection of winter-dead plants that I call my ‘Relics‘ collection. One day I want to paint that collection.

Back to the Not-Fun Rabbit Holes

Alright, I have to wrap this up and get back to the task of sorting my income tax data.

If you’re doing something more fun than that, share some vicarious spirit in a comment 🙂

Wild Ozark: Where Madison Woods paints with Ozark pigments … and talks to rocks, creeks, and trees.