"This reset in an area that was new to us, with close friends happy to share this beautiful space, healed me in ways I didn’t know I needed."”

NEDERLAND — As we saunter into 2026, I was thankful for a weekend of deep reflection away from it all.

2025 has been hard on what seems like all of us, but so very hard for a few. 

In my Nederland community, there has been unfathomable loss and heartache with the Caribou Village Fire. That happening right before the holidays really put a damper on this season for so many, and understandably so. Years of hard work and dedication, gone in an instant. 

My Virginia family has suffered this year, too, and then sickness reared its head on Christmas Eve and gave us all a scare. Thankfully, everything is going to be okay, but it was yet another damper on the holiday after a long, hard, challenging year.

I share this with no intention of bringing anyone down who felt the spirit this year: I say this as a form of validation to anyone who just wasn’t feeling the cheer they usually do.

Last Friday, my partner and I made a trip out to Jefferson, Colorado, to stay with some dear friends who have a property that’s been shared within their family for decades.

They bought the land in the 90s and had been using it primarily as a camping site. With lots of open space and vast mountain views, it served as a space for my friend and her siblings to get the wildness out when they were young. 

This really had me thinking about the concept of a mountain retreat, and just how common it is among people to go to the wilderness to rejuvenate.

We brought to the cabin all that we needed, leaving it only for a walk with the dogs over the course of three days. 

 Looking out into the views that seemed to go on forever, I felt the weight of 2025 roll off my shoulders. Breathing in the mountain air, I exhaled the heavy sadness that I’d been feeling for some time now.

This reset in an area that was new to us, with close friends happy to share this beautiful space, healed me in ways I didn’t know I needed. There’s nothing like discovering new pockets of nature to really inspire gratitude in me.

It reminds me that this world is so much bigger than we are. Sometimes, our problems can feel like they take up so much space and it becomes all we see. Making the time to drive just a few hours out of town and lay eyes on mountain ranges I haven’t spent time with and valleys I haven’t gazed over, brought me back to Earth. 

I wasn’t there to get out the wildness of a child, exactly, but I did feel a mental wildness leave my body. My nervous system finally relaxed. I was able to see clearly through issues that had been clouding my mind.

I put space between me and my problems and was finally able to determine that I am not defined by those problems.

If 2025 was a difficult time for you, like it was for so many, I highly encourage you to go somewhere new to you that’s deep in the wilderness of Colorado—or wherever you reside. In such a geographically rich state, you don’t have to travel far to see something you’ve probably never seen.

Immerse yourself in a new skyline. Remind yourself that there is always a new perspective to be seen.

Wishing all of you good health, prosperity, and infinite love in 2026.