Listening

January 1, 2026

Last night, I had a long conversation with a group of families of adult children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And I’ve found myself thinking about it a lot today.

What is sticking with me isn’t the specifics of what people were discussing as much as how important it is to slow down and really honor individual choice and different perspectives. When decisions start with the person (what matters to them, how they want to live, what a good day looks like, etc), the rest tends to fall into place. And when discussions come from a place of listening with the intention of learning something you don’t already know, trust builds and solutions are easy to find.

As we head into a new year, it felt like a timely reminder. New years are about intentions, and in this work especially, the most important one is listening and paying attention to the people whose lives are most affected by the work we do.

That’s the kind of reminder I want to carry into this year. May 2026 be a year of listening!