If this year has felt like . . . a lot . . . you’re not imagining it.
For many of us, 2025 has been heavy – personally, professionally, and collectively. The world feels a little topsy-turvy. Maybe you’ve found yourself wrestling with questions you didn’t expect to face this year:
What do I stand for?
What matters most?
How do I stay grounded when the ground itself keeps shifting?
We’ve watched conflicts unfold on global stages and at kitchen tables. We’ve seen friendships dissolve, business partnerships break down, families go no-contact, and workplaces and households fracture under the weight of unspoken tension.
In my work as a coach (and in my everyday life), I’ve witnessed people trying to make sense of disconnection and disillusionment. It’s hard, and it hurts. Because under all the questions about morality, truth, identity, and power, we’re just people.
And people are complicated – beautifully, maddeningly, gloriously complicated.
Which brings me to one of my favorite ways to connect, escape, learn and grow: The theater. If you’ve been around a while, you know where I’m going (and where I went last week). “C’mon, Annie, let’s go to the movies!” 😉
As a lifelong musical theater nerd, I’ve been counting down to the new release, Wicked: For Good. Let me tell you, without spoiling a thing, the artistry, the symbolism, and the message – it delivers!
At its core, Wicked: For Good is a story about perception, power, and the bonds between us. It’s about how the stories we tell and the ones we inherit shape our understanding of good, evil, truth, and self.
But more than anything, it’s about people. Messy, magical, flawed, and formative people.
In this film, we hear the now iconic ballad “For Good” anew, stirring up the kind of moment that cracks your heart open and fills it at the same time:
🎶 “Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”✨
That line has been playing on repeat in my mind and in my heart lately. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because it’s true.
Every single person who’s crossed your path has shaped you. Sometimes it’s clearly for the better, sometimes not so much. But always for some good, for growth, and for your becoming. People help to make us who we are.
That’s why I’m inviting you to join me in honoring December as PEOPLE Month.
Not in a sentimental, gloss-it-over kind of way. But in a real, courageous, meaningful way.
Let’s take time to acknowledge:
Friends who walked beside us (or away from us).
Clients who challenged and stretched us.
Colleagues who reminded us of our talents and strengths.
Unexpected mentors and everyday teachers.
Family relationships that ended (for now or forever), but left gifts in their wake.
People who hurt us, and the ways we’ve grown since.
This is a season of gratitude, giving, and gathering, as well as one of reckoning, one of facing and taking accountability for our own errors, judgments, and human ways.
Whether you’re celebrating holidays, wrapping up projects, or simply trying to end the year with a little more clarity than you started, carry this with you:
🎶 “So much of me is made of what I learned from you.“✨
As you move through the rest of this month, show up with kindness.
Offer compassion.
Speak a little more gently.
See people. Really see them, especially when it’s hard.
Because in the end, relationships are what change us.
That change is not weakness; it’s wisdom.
Here’s to all the people who’ve shaped us.
May we keep growing, learning, and becoming . . . for good.
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