Healed + Forged + Alive: Naming 2026 and One Year of Coffee & Words

It’s January 1, 2026. I’m sitting in my cozy spot with my first cup of coffee of the day, the Florida sun starting to filter through my windows, and I’m doing something I’ve done every New Year’s Day for years now: naming my journal folder.

This might seem like a small thing – a digital folder name that nobody sees but me. But for me, it’s everything. It’s my North Star for the year. My intention. My truth.

Last year, I named 2025 “Purple Rain” before I knew how chaotic it would be. Purple for royalty and power, rain for divine blessing and spiritual cleansing. Finding solace in love and faith amidst chaos. And boy, did 2025 deliver chaos – apartment living chaos, financial crisis, relationships ending, everything shifting all at once. But it also delivered the blessings: new career, new community, new understanding of who I am and what I’m worth.

This morning, as I sat down to name 2026, I realized something profound: I’m not reclaiming anything this year. I’ve already done that work. I’ve healed. I’ve built. And now? Now I’m ready to actually LIVE as the fullest version of myself.

Healed, Forged, Alive.

Those are the three words that capture 2026 for me.

Healed – I’ve done the hard internal work. I’ve processed the trauma. I’ve recognized my pattern of being the rescuer, the caretaker, the savior in relationships. I’ve stopped making myself small to fit into spaces that were never meant for me. The healing wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t quick, but it happened.

Forged – Leadership is forged in crisis, not calm. I’ve said that before, and I lived it in 2025. I walked through fire – multiple fires, actually – and came out stronger. Not because I wanted to be tested, but because crisis reveals what you’re actually made of. I built a new career. I launched newspapers. I created Coffee & Words. I didn’t just survive the flames; I let them shape me into something unbreakable.

Alive – This is the part I’m stepping into now. Not just existing. Not just surviving. Not just getting through another day. Actually LIVING. Fully present. Fully myself. No apologies, no compression, no shrinking.

Today is also Coffee & Words’ one-year anniversary.

One year ago today – January 1, 2025 – I sat in this same cozy spot and asked God and the universe a simple question: “What am I good at?”

I didn’t know that question would lead here. I didn’t know it would become a lifestyle brand, a blog, a product line, a memoir written in real-time. I just knew I needed to figure out what I was actually good at when I stripped away all the roles I’d been playing for other people.

Turns out? I’m good at storytelling. I’m good at creating spaces where people feel seen. I’m good at turning morning coffee into sacred ritual. I’m good at defining words in ways that make people feel something – meaningful, whimsical, and completely uncensored versions that capture the truth of how we actually live.

Coffee & Words isn’t just a business. It’s the evidence that I healed, that I was forged, that I’m alive.

Every blog post is me processing my own life in real-time and inviting you into that process. Every stackable mug with custom word definitions is me saying: words matter, your morning matters, YOU matter. Every product I recommend through affiliate links is something that’s genuinely part of my life, part of my morning sanctuary, part of how I stay grounded.

This year – 2026, Healed, Forged, Alive – I’m ready to live at my actual size. That means getting my hair done because I want to, not because someone expects it. Losing weight because I want my outside to match how I feel inside, not to meet anyone else’s standards. Investing in myself – crockpot for healthy meals, walking pad for movement while I work – because I’m worth taking care of.

It means showing up fully in my newspapers, fully in Coffee & Words, fully in my own life.

For anyone reading this who’s still in the chaos, still in the fire, still wondering if healing is even possible: it is. But it’s not easy. Being your authentic self isn’t a Pinterest quote – it’s work. Hard, lonely, sometimes scary work. It means leaving people, places, and things that kept you comfortable but small. It means starting over when you thought you’d be settled by now. It means choosing yourself even when nobody understands why.

But on the other side? You get to be healed. Forged. Alive.

You get to name your own year.

You get to build something that’s actually YOURS.

And you get mornings like this one – coffee in hand, sun on your face, looking at what you’ve created and knowing: I did this. I rescued myself. With creativity, hustle, and smart strategy.

Happy New Year. Here’s to being healed, forged, and fully alive in 2026.

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My word stack for today:

Healed + Forged + Alive

Healed, [heeld] verb, Origin: Old English hælan “to cure, save, make whole” – The work nobody sees – choosing yourself, processing trauma, refusing to shrink anymore.

Forged, [fawrjd] verb, Origin: Latin fabricare “to make, construct” – Shaped by fire you didn’t choose into strength you didn’t know you had.

Alive, [uh-lahyv] adjective, Origin: Old English on life “in living” – Finally at your actual size – fully present, unapologetically yourself, permission granted.

These mugs are part of my Coffee Stories collection – word stacks inspired by my personal journey shared in these posts. Each memoir piece becomes a stackable memory you can hold in your hands. Start your own collection and create combinations that speak to your journey.