“A seed splits in the dark long before it breaks the surface. Oceans shape coastlines over centuries. Your body repairs itself in its own time, immune to your deadlines. Whatever you call the divine, god, life, the universe, intelligence, grace, it unfolds with patience that borders on indifference to your calendar.” – Katarzyna Portka
I’ve been planning the year ahead with the sentiment above in mind. I started doing this in mid-December and did a lot of thinking while I was in Tahoe with my family. We had very dramatic weather, and I spent most of my time watching the snow fall, sitting by the fire, while my daughters braved the whiteouts. I dropped them off to ski and picked them up again. As many know, my role as mother has been my most cherished, and it hasn’t changed, so I love doing this because it makes me feel like they are still in school. But opting out of skiing in a snowstorm was new for me. I was a hardcore skier and would weather any storm. At the time, I always wondered what my friends who didn’t ski did all day. Now it was my turn to experience it firsthand, and at first, it was very nice. I had meetings and caught up on my work, and I wrote and wrote in my many journals and planners, but by day five, I was over it and ventured outside and back into the blizzard. A few weeks later, I drove home and watched as the rain pummeled the Bay Area outside my window. And again, after a while, I decided to take a walk in the rain. It was one of those days that will turn your umbrella inside out, but it was exhilarating to be outside after days of watching the rain fall from the safety of my home.
This is how my first three weeks of January have been. One foot inside the safe confines of my home and one foot outside in the elements.
I’ve done a lot of planning for 2026. Now I am ready to venture out in the world again. Thus, I am writing this post as one way of putting myself out there again. In recent years, I’ve not written like I once did. There are many reasons for this, but mostly it was to preserve my privacy. I had raised my kids, and it was time to retreat from the fishbowl that had been my life for so long.
Recently, I began sorting through all of my old photographs and journals. I literally chronicled every single day of my life within the pages of the many notebooks I filled.
In one entry, I wrote:
“Today I woke up in a state of fear followed by panic and terror, but all at once like a straight shot and a chaser…” – Sydney Chaney Thomas (2016)
This was written shortly after my husband died, but a few years later, I wrote:
“One day you wake up, and your life feels like an overnight flight to Rome. You aren’t exactly sure how you got there, but there you are, walking through the ancient streets.”
– Sydney Chaney Thomas (2018)
I have kept a journal since grade school, when I first read Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I began taking notes on my friends and neighbors. I created note cards for all of the families I knew. I loved documenting everything. I kept them under my bed in a box with my collection of rocks and feathers.
If you aren’t familiar with the book Harriet the Spy, it is about an eleven-year-old girl who believes she will someday be a writer. To practice, she secretly observes the people around her and records her thoughts in a notebook. Her friends find out and aren’t exactly happy with her honest observations. The novel explores themes of identity, honesty, friendship, and creativity, and shows that self-expression requires both courage and compassion. I am again exploring the same themes in this next chapter.
For the past four years, I have been working with the Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco as a chairperson for Bouquets to Art, and I have had a ton of fun doing this and have made many new friends as a result, but in March, I will step down from these duties and shift my focus back to my professional work.
In 2026, I am dedicating myself to writing more consistently, sharing my wisdom, and leaning back into teaching the things I learned and taught as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley for 8 years.
I’ve been thinking about ways to do this while still running Ocean SF, my leadership internship, and continuing my much-loved work with TSMC in San Jose. I want to be less busy in 2026 and more intentional. I love the term “signal,” which denotes a meaningful cue or message that guides attention, choice, or understanding amid the noise of everyday life.
So this is my plan for 2026: to begin sharing the things I’ve learned in a series called “Field Notes” on my blog and to host workshops and leadership mixers in the Marina District and at the Battery Social Club in San Francisco.
Below are the topics that I am most interested in exploring at these events.
Power, Clarity & Self-Trust
Decisions Without Consensus: How to trust your own signal in high-stakes environments
Internal Authority: Moving from external validation to grounded self-trust
Clarity Under Pressure: Thinking clearly when stakes are high and time is short
Leadership Without Burnout
The Cost of Over-Functioning: Why capable people exhaust themselves
Regulated Leadership: Nervous system literacy for modern leaders
Sustainable Ambition: Wanting more without losing your core self
Relationships, Boundaries & Influence
Boundaries for People Who Lead: Saying no without fallout
The Subtle Art of Influence: Power that doesn’t announce itself
Attachment at Work: How relational patterns quietly shape teams and outcomes
Culture, Meaning & Modern Life
Attention Is the New Currency: Why focus and not time is the real constraint
Thinking in a Distracted World: Reclaiming depth in shallow systems
Discernment in the Age of Excess: Choosing what actually matters
Identity, Reinvention & Mid-Career Shifts
Reinvention As Roles and Chapters Change
Letting the Old Version Die: Graceful Transitions
Field Notes–Style Programs
Field Notes on Power: What no one tells you about having it
Field Notes on Visibility: Being seen without becoming exposed
Field Notes on Success: When achievement stops feeling like enough
Field Notes on Intuition: Using non-linear intelligence in rational systems
Options
Decision Labs: Real-time decision-making
Boundary Mapping Workshop: Where you leak energy (and how to stop)
Personal Signal Audit: What actually guides your choices—and what shouldn’t
Please leave comments below. I would like your input to help me guide my efforts in the materials I will be creating. Thank you and happy 2026!
Sydney 