I blinked and suddenly it was January 21. That seems to happen every year. I come out of the holidays full of love, full of thought, and somehow already feeling…
I blinked and suddenly it was January 21.
That seems to happen every year. I come out of the holidays full of love, full of thought, and somehow already feeling like the year is running ahead of me, even before I find my footing.
For me, the holidays usually wrap up with Christmas in Sacramento with family, then a return home to Tucson and straight into community. One of my long-standing December anchors has been the Arizona Bowl and the surrounding community activations, especially the parade and the STEAM Labs Tour.
Since 2015, the Arizona Bowl has gone through many sponsors and evolutions, and this year marked the second year of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. What has remained constant is the heart behind the work, led by my dear friend and colleague, Kairand Bellinger, through Human Impact Productions.
This year felt different from the start.
The STEAM Labs Tour was moved up to December 20, while the bowl game shifted to December 27. For the first time in ten years, game day landed on my travel day back from Sacramento. I was grateful to help co-host the STEAM Labs Tour, but I had to miss the actual game day activation. On top of that, Kairand faced health and family challenges just weeks before the event, forcing him to slow down and surrender parts of his role. It was a powerful reminder that sometimes you truly cannot do it all. Health and family always come first. I share more about this in a separate STEAM Labs recap.
And then there was the part no one plans for.
Even though we hosted a Ready and Resilient Now…Together broadcast in November called “’Tis the Season,” where we talked about how to stay healthy and flu-free with family, I still caught the nasty bug. It crept in around 8:00 pm on Christmas Eve and knocked me down hard. I stayed under that cloud through January 5 or 6.
I even had to back out of a trip to San Diego with my hubby for the Holiday Bowl to cheer on our Arizona Wildcats. That one hurt. So yes, the new year came in with that cloud over it too, and I had to surrender to rest whether I liked it or not.
January always starts quietly for me anyway.
I ring in the new year with my Filipino tradition of twelve grapes at midnight, usually by myself because my husband Glenn is already asleep. The first week is about settling, listening, and not rushing. This year, that quiet start was not optional. It was enforced.
Then January 8 arrived.
That date always grounds me. It marks the anniversary of the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords at the corner of Oracle and Ina. It also kicks off what our community now recognizes as the Beyond series of events, a week of reflection, remembrance, and connection.
While I was not able to participate in community activations this year, I still felt called to show up in my own way.
So at sunset, on a cold January 8 evening, I went downtown by myself. I brought my My Cardio Girl honor hoop and offered a quiet, personal moment of movement and reflection. No stage. No crowd. Just presence. I captured the moment as a reminder that honoring does not always have to be loud to be meaningful.
Two days later, I honored the message in another way.
January is heart health month, and My Cardio Girl is deeply connected to the message of knowing your blood, moving your blood, and giving your blood. In partnership with Team Lizzy Bell, the American Red Cross, and now the Sickle Cell Foundation of Arizona, that message carries even more weight.
So on January 10, I showed up at my local Red Cross donation center and donated blood. One pint, with the potential to save up to three lives. What followed was a humbling reminder to slow down and care for your body after giving. I share that full experience in its own reflection, but the intention remains the same. Blood equals life.
Then came MLK Day.
Every year since 1992, I make it a point to be out in community on MLK Day of Service, usually at the Reid Park DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center. It is how I start my year. By advancing the dream, meeting people, and being inspired.
This year, that gathering felt different too.
Clarence Boykins was missing.
Clarence was a dear friend to my husband and our family for more than three decades. He was a cornerstone of CAMSIT, Conscientious African American Men, a group committed to mentoring young boys and shaping futures. He was also instrumental in helping establish MLK Day as a recognized holiday in Arizona after a very challenging start.
Clarence passed away in the fall of 2025. His presence has always been a given at the MLK celebration, often emceeing with his longtime friend Karl Bedford, greeting everyone with that unmistakable smile. This year, like earlier moments in January, the momentum carried on even though a foundational leader could not be there in person. I honor his legacy more deeply in a separate MLK Day reflection.
January carries many awareness reminders beyond these moments.
It is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. One Health Month. Cervical Health Awareness Month. Radon Awareness Month. National Birth Defects Awareness Month. National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Thyroid Awareness Month. Leprosy Awareness Month.
That is a lot.
Which is why January, for me, is not about resolutions.
It is about resetting.
It is about reassessing the role you play as a healthy global citizen. For your family. For your community. For the planet.
No one expects anyone to know everything. But knowing the basics builds empathy and sensitivity. It helps us show up better for people and families whose lives intersect with these realities.
And here we are.
Past the midpoint of January, looking up and realizing how quickly the month is closing. February 1 through April 30 is a sprint. May 1 will be here before we know it.
I call January an “on your mark” month.
So what are you going to do in this semester of your life, whether you are in school or out of school?
It is a 100-day sprint.
Let’s lock in.
Let’s focus.
And let’s do it together.