I want to challenge folks to be slavish in their use of the heart button in the new year. I mean, why would you be stingy with your enthusiasm? Why wouldn’t you want to let folks know you made it all the way to the end, you see they made it all the way to the end, and there you are together, standing virtually at the end, and you’re thinking, Well done, you!

Seriously, this is how I approach the heart button. If I get from beginning to end of any newsletter, I want the writer to know:

I see you.

Thank you.

Way to keep showing up in the midst of what often feels like a total dumpster fire of a world.

I don’t think any writer, no matter how rich or famous, no matter how widely published or read, ceases to be a human being who some days just needs to feel accompanied.

I am neither rich nor famous. I am not widely published or read. But I’m very good company, and I’m often in need of good company.

Let’s be good company for each other in 2026, okay?