Interactions instead of elements
Why I've chosen "Relationships" as my Word of the Year 2026 and the profound effect its emphasis can have on life
I don’t remember where first I encountered the idea of a “Word of the Year”, much as I’d like to give due credit to that individual, but I do know it enthused me much more strongly than “new year’s resolutions” ever have. A Word of the Year appeared and indeed has proven more achievable and effective than smaller, more precise resolutions.
If kept at the forefront of all you do between January and December, it calmly and conscientiously directs all other actions taken. It is an overarching spirit, under which more precise goals and action plans can be created as and when required - not just on 1st January. And I’ve already found that its spirit doesn’t simply dissipate on 31st December of its respective year; it usually joins the pantheon of other past WOTYs, coming to mind on apt occasions.
For the few Decembers since that initial encounter, I’ve dutifully reflected on how the past 12 months have gone and to which Word of the Year they’ve guided me for the coming 12-month period.
After some rumination and the term “resilience” seeming to lead by a mile, I’ve had a change of heart for 2026. I was sat meditating when the intention to take Relationships as my WOTY settled into my mind.
What do I mean by “relationships”?
The word didn’t arise from a need to improve my social networking with loved ones and friends, although those relationships will be an important part of my intentions.
‘the shift of perspective from the parts to the whole can also be seen as a shift from objects to relationships.’
The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision by Fritjof Capra & Pier Luigi Luisi, p.80
Relationships have become an ever more intriguing and provocative thought over the last two or three months, as I’ve ramped up my regenerative lifestyle, settled into a Buddhist/Taoist form of spirituality, and contemplated “systems thinking” more often. When I speak of “relationships”, we might just as easily use the words “interactions”, “connections”, “networks” and “processes”.
I feel relationships can also be equated with the Japanese concept of ma (間) - the vitally important “space” between and around things, into which potentiality pours and churns and produces.
‘Once you start noticing “ma,” it’s everywhere’
The Space in Between: A Perspective on the Japanese Concept of ‘Ma’ on the Japan House website
The hidden power of relationships
I believe shifting focus from individual nodes to the networks between them holds a hidden power.
From the very limited efforts I’ve made so far at moving my attention from elements to the interactions between them, I’ve often acquired a new, refreshing insight into those elements as well as how their connecting pathways could be improved or used differently.
‘It’s a good idea to stop dissecting out elements and to start looking for the interconnections, the relationships that hold the elements together.’
Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows, p.13
However, that is not the secret power I think relationships contain. That magic is how consideration and utilisation of them can radically alter our attitudes and approaches to elements. Focusing on relationships moves us away from seeing things - animate or inanimate - as isolated annoyances, problems to be solved or removed, to discovering how their interaction with each other can bring opportunities or benefits we might at first have overlooked.
‘So natural selection designed us to react to them [i.e. elements] in particular ways, and it engineered those reactions by giving us feelings toward them, and those feelings give shape to the essence we sense in them.’
Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright
From a Buddhist perspective, we stop experiencing something in a way which places our judgement upon it almost instantly, in a very egocentric, like or dislike fashion. Rather, we enter an accepting, opportunistic and symbiotic mindset.
How I might focus more on “relationships” in 2026
This shift in mindset is one I’ve enjoyed so far, though very occasionally, in late 2025. It’s one I’m excited to experience and strengthen in 2026.
Whilst the joy of a Word of the Year, as mentioned above, is in being guided by it but not rigidly held to precise targets, there will be particular actions I can take under its tutelage. Four starting points are listed here:
Begin plans and projects with networks as well as purpose. For example, when planning my summer holiday, I’ll map out key places I’d like to visit and find the logical centre point for accommodation between those, rather than fitting in activities based on the destination.
Continue my Circular Home efforts by keeping the pathways and processes between elements at the forefront of my mind whenever I shop, create or dispose of things.
Improve my human relationships by developing how we interact rather than just with whom I interact. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not the most integrated person in my current neighbourhood; does the power of “relationships” as my WOTY have a part to play in ameliorating this situation? I’m starting an Applewood Permaculture Design Certificate online in late January, so how I interact with others on the course will certainly be significant.
Deepen the pathway between garden and kitchen - and back again. There’s no question this is a pivotal relationship when establishing a regenerative, circular home. I’ve put plenty of time, money and effort into setting up a veg patch and, more recently, a fledgling food forest. How can I ensure edibles cultivated there are as healthy and abundant as can be, and make it into homecooked meals for me and loved ones? How can I evolve a seasonal stock of recipes revolving around what I’m growing?
Threads of power and possibility
With these four initial actions in mind and a clearer idea of what an emphasis on “relationship” can facilitate, I feel a great sense of inspiration and motivation for 2026. We’re all interconnected on our planet and with our planet. Observing, understanding and aligning with the connections between every element of our Earth seems to me a truly regenerative way of living.
‘It is said that the universe is like an endless river. Its totality, the unity, does not change, yet at the same time it is in constant motion. The river as a whole exists, but you cannot say what it consists of; you cannot stop the flow and examine it. Everything is in movement and inextricably intertwined.’
Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh by Helena Norberg-Hodge, p.74
I hope you too see the wonder in the way all things, all beings, all life interacts as we enter this new year, and of course, beyond 2026. I think once one’s eyes are opened to interbeing and the pathways between elements, there’s no going back, and the world becomes awash with glowing threads of power and possibility.
Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year.
I like your thinking on this. Regeneration and relationships go together. I often think of moving from dependence to interdependence. Regenerative gardens must be more than a collection of individual plants. Real regeneration happens only when life forms interact with each other capturing energy from the sun and nutrients from soil and water. God has given us sun, soil, water -- and life.
An insightful post, thank you 🙏🏻