✨ New Year: New Harmony

Welcome to the last Wellbeing Wednesday of 2025! Time is flying.

Every year, around this time, I find myself bombarded with a specific, exhausting message: New Year, New You. A message that hurts my heart, telling us all that who we were yesterday wasn’t quite enough, and that January 1st is the deadline to start fixing yourself.

This year, I’m erasing this message entirely.

There is no “New You” required. You are not a software update that needs installing or a broken machine that needs repairing. You are already whole, resilient, and enough, exactly as you stand today.

Instead of chasing a “new” version of ourselves, let’s talk about a more appealing concept with an aim for a more balanced, supportive 2026: New Harmony.

What is New Harmony?

Harmony isn’t about being perfect; it’s about how different notes sit together to create a pleasing sound. In music, a single note can be beautiful, but it finds its depth when it resonates in harmony with others. (Just ask my choirs about my sandwich analogy! Bread is good, giant sandwich…. more personal and yummy!)

New Harmony is the practice of coming into alignment with yourself, your community, and your surroundings. It’s not about changing who you are; it’s about adjusting the “tuning” of your life so that you feel less friction and more resonance.

Music as the Path to Alignment

Music is the perfect metaphor, and tool, for finding this balance. Here are some ideas for how you can use music to cultivate harmony in your life in 2026:

1. Harmony with Yourself: The Power of Listening

We often use music as background noise to drown out our thoughts. This year, try active listening as a form of self-intimacy.

The Practice: Carve out time just for you and a pair of headphones. No chores, no scrolling. Just listen to a piece of music that moves you. Let it reflect your internal state. When we listen deeply, we acknowledge our own emotions, bringing our inner world into harmony.
Engage and process your emotions: Avoid listening to something to “make” yourself happy. Sometimes music can help us to process and move through difficult emotions, if you feel that you need more support with this, please do drop me a message, or contact a music therapist to get support.

2. Harmony with Community: The Joy of Singing

As I talked about in December, singing together is biological magic. It’s the quickest way to feel in sync with the people around you.

The Practice: Don’t wait for a special occasion. Join a local choir, a community sing-along, or even just sing loudly with your family in the car. When your voice joins others, the “I” becomes “We.” This is social harmony in its purest physical form.

3. Harmony with Your Surroundings: Intentional Creating

You don’t need to be a professional musician to create. Creating sound, whether it’s humming a melody, tapping a rhythm, or learning three chords on a guitar, is a way of interacting with the world around you.

The Practice: Give yourself permission to play. Creating music is a dialogue between you and the space you inhabit. It turns “noise” into “art” and helps you feel grounded in your environment.

Tuning Your Life

If you feel “out of tune” this January, tired, overwhelmed, or just a bit flat, don’t look for a “new you” try looking for a new harmony instead.

Ask yourself:

What “notes” in my life are clashing right now?
How can I use music to soften the edges?
Where can I find a rhythm that feels sustainable, rather than forced?

Let 2026 be the year you stop trying to rewrite the song of your life and simply start singing it with a bit more resonance. You are the melody; the harmony is simply how you choose to live it.

How are you planning to find your “New Harmony” this week? Will you be listening, singing, or creating? Let us know in the comments.