Finding My Way Back to Center
A personal reflection on how Golu 2026 took a different shape — and why this year is a return to what matters most.
Big Plans. Then Life.
I began 2026 with a long list — ideas to explore, places to visit, books to read, stories to write. I was excited about what GoluGirl could become.
New priorities arrived, the calendar filled, and I found myself doing more and more — around Devi, around Golu, around the many ideas I love.
In doing so much around Devi, was I spending enough time simply being with Devi?
The Mountains Gave the Answer
There is something humbling about standing among mountains.
Rocks that have witnessed ages we can barely comprehend. Trees growing wherever they find their little patch of earth. Water finding its way around every obstruction. Tiny human beings walking, climbing and cycling through an enormous landscape. And the Continental Divide — a line in the landscape from which water can eventually journey toward completely different oceans.
Standing amid all that immensity, many things that had occupied so much space in my mind suddenly seemed smaller.
Perhaps nature doesn't always give us answers.
Sometimes, it simply gives us enough stillness to hear the answer that has been forming within us all along.
Mine was simple:
My Inner Compass
The mountains reminded me that no matter how far we go, we all need a center — something steady to return to when life feels full, noisy, or uncertain.
For me, that center is Devi.
She has always been there — in my questions, in my joys, in my seeking, and in my silence.
A Nudge from the First Day
Right at the beginning of the nine-night journey, we encounter Shailaputri — Daughter of the Mountain. It felt like a personal nudge, a gentle reminder from Devi herself: be still, be grounded, begin here.
So this year, I chose to receive that nudge.
A Different Golu
The dolls will still come out. The steps will still rise. There will be flowers, lamps, familiar faces, stories and laughter.
But this year, our Golu is intentionally smaller — and fuller in a different way.
More time for prayer. More space for contemplation. More reading, more understanding, and more time to simply be with Devi.
GoluGirl Opens Her Doors
From this place of return, GoluGirl opens her doors — to questions, to stories, to traditions, to places, to people, and to all the many ways Devi shows up in our lives.
Through Akka's curious eyes, we will explore, ask “why,” learn together, and discover how something as simple as a doll can open up a much larger world.
