Almost Everything Went Differently Than Planned

Today is the Winter Solstice — the shortest day of the year, and a quiet invitation to pause, reflect, and honour the darkness that precedes the return of light.

This morning, that invitation arrived in a very ordinary way.

I met my friend Patricia for brunch downtown, only for her to arrive and discover that the cafe we’d planned to go to… no longer existed. Closed. Gone. Plan undone.

So we wandered a few doors down and landed at Peter Pan — a warm, inviting spot with delicious food and the kind of atmosphere that encourages you to linger.

We enjoyed a long, leisurely catch-up filled with depth and presence. And in a moment that never would have happened had our original plan worked, I unexpectedly ran into a work colleague and had the joy of meeting her daughter.

A small reminder, before the day had really begun: sometimes the closed door is exactly what opens something better.

Later, I attended a Winter Solstice Gathering led by my dear friend and spiritual guide, Sukh Nidhan — a space for reflection on the year behind us and the one ahead. There were thoughtful, introspective questions, but one in particular made me smile:

“What did not go as expected in 2025?”

My answer came easily: almost everything.

Uprooting Trafficking was never part of the plan. None of it — the people, the momentum, the depth, the doors that opened — was something I could have mapped out or orchestrated. And had I tried to plan it, control it, or force clarity too early, it never would have unfolded with the magic that it did.

It came through a lack of resistance.
Through not pushing.
Through not needing to control.
Through peace.
Through a quiet knowing.

Doors opened without full visibility of where they would lead — and still, they were clearly the right ones to walk through.

That, to me, is the deeper wisdom of the Winter Solstice.

It’s not about forcing the light.
It’s about trusting that the light returns — even when we are standing in the dark.
It’s about honouring what didn’t go as planned, and recognizing how often those moments hold the truest gifts.

As we move toward the light of a new season, may we soften our grip just a little.
May we trust the unexpected detours.
And may we remember that some of the most meaningful chapters are the ones we never could have planned.

With warmth on this Solstice day,
Tamara