The Things I Want to Bring Into 2026
Happy New Year!
I don't know about you, but I am excited for 2026. I love New Year's in general (I am a big fan of holidays spent with friends, and I love goal-setting and reflection). But I'm especially excited for 2026. I mean, look how good it looks on the page. Nice. Round.
I wrote all of my numbers backwards until I was like, nine years old, so I know writing 2026 would have fucked me up as a kid. But now I know which way letters and numbers are supposed to face for the most part, so I am practically unstoppable. All that's left for me to do is learn my left and rights. 2026 here I come!
2025 was a great year for me in a lot of ways. I made strides in writing and selling my book (hopefully I will have some news to share with you soon about that,) I rescued my cat Jennifer, and we had John Green as a guest on Girl Historians. I made new friends this year while trying to reconnect with people I had lost touch with and foster my current friendships.
I also swam in the ocean which, at the risk of sounding anti-vax, was incredibly healing for me. It's not more healing than say, medicine, but I do think that the majority of my problems would be fixed if I could be sent to the seaside for my health à la a Victorian child suffering from consumption. And while Toronto's proximity to the Great Lakes does soothe my climate-crisis-induced anxiety about the Water Wars, Lake Ontario is just not the same as the ocean.
All that being said, December has been ass. My regular seasonal depression compounded with loved ones going through terrible things and prednisone withdrawals making me feel like I was being hunted for sport. So I am ready for 2026 to wash over me.
I wanted to write you today to talk about what I am excited to foster/bring with me into the new year. These can be resolutions, or things from the past year I want to continue. Let's get into it!
Talking to Strangers
This was my big resolution for 2024 & 2025. It has really improved my life by MILES, and I definitely would recommend.
I work a lot in coffee shops and have made some genuine friends over the past two years by chatting with the baristas and patrons. (Just ask people what they did that day or compliment them on an item of clothing they’re wearing.) Despite general public perception, I am not extroverted (I just have an annoying personality,) so if I can talk to strangers, you can. I assure you!
They aren’t all going to be winners. One man spent forty minutes telling me about how his wife works for James Cameron's soy business? I don’t know, but it sounded like a full lie. But I do feel more optimistic about and connected to people when I chat with strangers.
Bossa Nova & Jazz Vinyl DJ Sets on YouTube
These vinyl freaks are the backbone of my daily routine. They spin DJ sets of chill music using records, and they do it entirely for free! Way better than a Spotify playlist in my humble opinion.
Making Your Own Clubs
Starting your own clubs (and by that I mean, inviting your friends to do a specific activity on a semi-regular basis) is so much fun. I am a part of two 'clubs' right now:
- Movie Club, where I get together with two friends, and we watch one or two movies once a month. Afterwards, we chat about the movie or just our lives. This is way better than a book club because it doesn't have homework.
- Chess Club, where I get together with an ever-changing group of people and we play a couple of games of chess. I love chess, and I have been studying it a lot over the past two months, but I am terrible at it. Just absolutely ass at chess. But it doesn't matter when you are playing with your friends! We also welcome anyone to come and we will teach them how to play.
These 'clubs' have been so much fun. They are a great excuse to just hang out.
Watching 100 Movies & Reading 25 Books
I've done this for the past two years, and I love it. You don't need to copy my insane numbers. If you have a job that actually contributes to society in some way, you might not be able to watch 100 movies a year. A friend of mine has set a goal of watching 50 movies this year, which my jobless ass could watch in a month, but that might not be a good thing.
I understand quotas can be a bad thing. But for me, they encourage me to consume media that I might not otherwise. I have found so many directors or authors I wouldn't have otherwise. I would also rather be watching a movie than scrolling on my phone, so it's never wasted time to me.
Being Vulnerable with Friends
This summer I went to a cottage with some friends. On one of the days, I did mushrooms. I've done them once before and had a beautiful time, but I guess the vibes were off this time, or my head was in a weird space, because I had a trip so bad I experienced ego death.
I listened to I Love You, I'm Sorry by Gracie Abrams sixty times in a row, then oscillated between taking fifteen-minute naps and sobbing for approximately four hours. My sister sent me a picture of our childhood cat, and I thought she (the cat) was disappointed in me for being high.
My friends did not know I was staring down the void because, like a cat, I hid alone and didn't tell anyone. But when I went out to get a glass of water, my friends Ben and Blair found me and helped me ride out the rest of the trip.
I learned a lot of things from this experience, one being that I don't have the kind of mental illness that makes all drugs fun. But I also learned that people can only support you as much as you let them. So 2026 is the year of being vulnerable with friends.
Creating, not Consuming
I am so tired of buying things. It's inescapable! Everything is marketing and it sucks. So 2026 is going to be a year where I turn away from consumption and fill that void with creation. Sounds cringe but c'est la vie.
For the first six months of 2026, I am banned from online shopping. Instead, I want to spend my time getting crafty. I love writing, but I want to add some new tactile hobbies to that list.
Winnipeg
One of my friends has become obsessed with Winnipeg recently. She has never been. If you aren't deep into the Canada lore. Winnipeg is a midwestern city in Canada. It's pretty cheap and has a great arts scene, and it's fucking freezing. There are some great, weird movies about Winnipeg that I would recommend: Universal Language, Twentieth Century, My Winnipeg.
The point being, Winnipeg has a vibe. I am flying there tomorrow to visit my partner's family. But we have now also started planning a girls' trip to Winnipeg in April. 2026 is the year of Winnipeg!
That's it! That's all!
