In this piece, I write about how we can put aside our usual ways of seeing as we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, resetting our compass and starting afresh in 2026. 

“Ann Tashi Slater Considers a Window Into Life, Through Death.” In this excerpt from my new book, Traveling in Bardo, I write about my grandmother’s Tibetan Buddhist funeral and the traditional rituals for traveling through the bardo period between death and rebirth. These rituals also guide, us the living, as we journey through the bardo from birth to death.

I wrote for Oprah Daily about how Japanese wisdom helped me say goodbye to my beloved dog, Mac. “Spring brought the sakura cherry blossoms, quintessential symbols of impermanence, their impending absence integral to their loveliness. In this season of beauty and sadness, Mac showed me another dimension of wabi-sabi: how to accept fading and mortality.”

Ann Tashi Slater shares five key insights from her new book, Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World, for the Next Big Idea Club. Slater’s book has been selected as a “Must-Read” by the Club, which is co-curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant.

Ann Tashi Slater is a “Featured Author” in Princeton Alumni Weekly. Read an excerpt from her new book, TRAVELING IN BARDO: “Life brings change, whether it’s a new stage, such as becoming a parent or moving to another city, or the loss of someone we love, growing old, or our own death. This book is about how we can find deeper meaning and fresh direction in a world where transitions are not only inevitable but can come at any moment…”