A Quiet Beginning: Stepping Into 2026 With Stillness.

The new year arrived quietly for me.

I ended the last one wrapped in the freezing stillness of Shenyang snow, silence, breath turning visible in the air. I began this one in Hangzhou. Still cold, but gentler. No snow. No drama. Just a soft transition from one calendar to the next.

On New Year’s Eve, I waited for fireworks the kind that split the sky open and announce, loudly, that something has ended and something else has begun. But I was told they had been put on hold in China for safety reasons. And so, the year ended not with a bang, but with a hush. It felt strange at first. Then it felt fitting.

This time of year usually finds me buried in a diary, auditing the past twelve months counting the resolutions I kept, confronting the ones I didn’t, drafting ambitious new promises to myself. But not this year.

This year, I chose stillness.

I let the old year end gracefully. I allowed myself to sit quietly with it, receiving with gratitude everything it had brought and everything it had taken away. There was no rush to summarize, no pressure to optimize, no urgency to reinvent myself overnight.

And as this new year begins, I find myself approaching it with the same energy: calm, quiet, grounded. A deep knowing that all will be well.

The year that just ended was a teacher. A demanding one. A generous one. A lot was learned and if life has taught me anything, it’s that learning doesn’t stop as long as we’re still here. There is always more to understand, more to unlearn, more to grow into.

A lot also had to be shed. Old habits. Old fears. Old versions of myself that could no longer carry me forward. Like a snake releasing its old skin, I had to leave certain things behind to keep moving.

There were wins. There were lessons. I know you had them too.

Personally, this marks my fourth year in China. And I can say this honestly: the person who arrived here in 2022 is not the same person standing here now. The change didn’t happen overnight. It happened quietly through conversations, failures, friendships, solitude, confusion, clarity. And in many ways, they have been good changes.

I’m grateful for the growth. For the calm. For the clarity. For the newly found hope. For the incredible relationships that entered my life. For the experiences that shaped me in ways both visible and invisible. For growth in things that can be measured and in things that cannot.

This year, I will graduate with my master’s degree. In one sense, it marks the beginning of the end of a chapter in my story. In another, it signals the opening of a new and unfamiliar one. There is uncertainty ahead, yes but also excitement, possibility, and quiet confidence.

As we step into 2026, I do so with optimism. With patience. With trust in the unfolding. I look forward to discovering the many layers this year will reveal.

Wishing you a gentle, meaningful, and beautiful 2026.

Fred Agaba