january: realignment
2026 a play in 12 acts
I hope you’re reading this in unreasonably comfortable pajamas with something warm. In fact I hope your entire day is comfort and warmth. It’s the very first day of a brand new year! I am a person with a deep sense of wonder and possibility, so when the calendar calls for 24 hours of exactly that I consider it an executive order.
I’ve prepared in advance of course. I started my vision boarding and day dreaming in the middle of December, but if you’re about to spend the day on Pinterest doing exactly that I have a guide to accompany you:
I have been creating intentions for my New Year since 2023. Intentions are different from goals or resolutions. They’re softer and more malleable. They are more feeling than fixed. I have many things I want to accomplish in life, but instead of asking myself how can I change everything completely and become worthy of the life I want, I ask myself what is the feeling I’m chasing? What are the tiny things that add up to the big thing?
I hate the concept of the ‘2026 rebrand’. I understand it though because I’ve felt that pressure too. There’s an inclination to scrap everything entirely, but the older I get the more I realize I don’t want a truly clean slate. I’m much more interested in being someone that tries things and fails. Every previous version of myself is someone I am learning from and building off of. I don’t want to delete a single mistake.
So with that being said I’m making my intention for January one of realignment. Rebranding makes it sound like there’s some kind of PR disaster you need to reckon for and that’s just not the energy I want to bring to 2026.
setting the scene ⟡ editing your drafts ⟡ seeking joy ⟡ cleaning house
When you’re dreaming of the future it’s easy to fixate on a single spot. One hurdle you have to pass that, once you do, you unlock perfect contentment for the rest of your days. Life rarely works like that though. You aren’t on a singular path marching towards absolution, you’re out here zig zagging all over the place.
When I push myself to achieve a very concrete goal (work out x times a week, gain x subscribers this month) it tends to shut me down. Resolutions: restrictive, punishing, guilt-inducing. Intentions: door opening, enlightening, abundant.
January To-Do List
Set your intentions. I have a great journaling guide for getting there in the post I linked above (linking here again), but intentions look different for everyone. Start brainstorming by thinking of what you want to achieve, and then reframe them as things you intend to do. As you long as you lean in just a tiny bit towards whatever your intention was you will have accomplished so much more than if you ‘failed’ to achieve some goal. For example, I intend to go analog this year and live less of my life online. A traditional resolution might be ‘limit my screen time to three hours a day’, but I’m going to give myself more grace (and screen time!) than that.
Clean out your closet. I know there are things in there that you’re pretty sure you’re going to maybe need one day soon, but I promise…you can let go. Break out that donation box. Pick a night to have the cozy beverage of your choice and sort through everything in your bedroom. I highly recommend a playlist or podcast to accompany cleaning— I’ve been listening to a ton of Nick Drake this winter!
Find something to look forward to. Obviously you’re in the headspace of long term plans for the year, but the immediate future deserves a little magic too. Schedule dinner with an old friend for the end of the month, book a much needed pedicure, allow yourself to splurge on a new coffee maker. Whatever it is let it carry your heart through the freezing cold month ahead.
Make a joy list. Open your journal and create a list of all the things that bring you joy. If it helps to make it numbered think of ten. Going on walks, watching Little Women, texting your friend, cuddling with your cat…things like that. Save this list for a cloudy day to bring you back to center.
January is for…
January Minigame: Create a little syllabus for media you’d like to get into. Maybe you create a more official TBR list, or include some movies you’ve been meaning to see. Maybe you have a subscription to The New Yorker and you’re behind on your articles.
I know everyone says your brain fully develops when you’re 25, but I think there’s some other critical wrinkle that isn’t completely folded until you’re 30.
The older I get the more tired I am of listening to my worst impulses. For me those impulses are quiet and self destructive. They’re little spiky things like don’t bother reaching out to that friend they probably don’t want to hear from you anyway. You look ridiculous in that sweater. You are not as good as you had the potential to be.
I simply don’t have time to listen to those voices anymore, I have too much going on. I have places to go, people to be. I am brokering a peace treaty with my anxiety. One of the ways I’m doing this is by visualizing a balloon. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes silly is the only way out.
So the way it works is I have a thought. A little spiky one, like I said. Then I hold that thought above my head and let it fill a balloon. It can get as big as the balloon will stretch, but then it’s captured. It can’t spiral into anything else it is contained in latex. I take my hand and pinch the bottom then release it high above my head into the sky.
If I tell myself not to have bad thoughts then guess what I am guilty for thinking things, and if I let the thought go crazy I lose myself completely. This way I can just go oh wow look at that thought. That’s a wild one. Okay goodbye! I’m done with you now!
I have become a lot better at pushing myself to do things, even when I’m scared. I often expect the reward of putting myself out there to be ease and comfort on the other side. Some kind of accomplishment that releases me from panic. I’ve pushed myself and I’ve grown in big ways, but I always feel panicked. I think that I always will, so now the reward needs to become something new.
Release? Relinquishment? It’s a bit like birthing a baby. The reward for childbirth isn’t kicking back and relaxing afterwards, it’s having a fucking baby to take care of. If you want new and exciting things in life then life is going to keep getting weird and difficult and scary and wow thank God for that! I have a little toddler of a life right now and it’s fussy and it kicks but my reward is that I get to feed it and watch it grow.
2025 was my year of trying everything. I hope I don’t lose that instinct in 2026, because as anxiety inducing as it was it was also pretty fantastic. I will always keep going, I will always change. It will always be something new with me. It’s okay if I take time to rest. Every day can’t be magic, but every week can be.
IN FOR 2026:
trusting the stars
having an extensive sock collection
dinner parties
apple with peanut butter
coming to the cottage
movie theaters
taking the scenic route
polka dots
buttered toast
eBay
flirting
Italian liqueur
leftovers
arts and crafts
OUT FOR 2026:
phone in bed
orange wine
going viral
being 15 minutes late
polyester blends
AI overviews
seeking validation
overexplaining
billionaires
‘____maxxing’
owning more than 2 water bottles
oat milk
microwaves
talking about how busy you are
second guessing
December provided many blessings, most critically the hit television show Heated Rivalry. I don’t know who I would be without the love of Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, like specifically the love they have for each other both on and off screen. I have seen every single photoshoot I have downloaded the Quinn app…I’m locked in.
Also an interesting cultural moment of December: Christmas! But literally Heated Rivalry kind of stole her thunder like what was I thinking about on Christmas if not the finale dropping at midnight?
I bought some new notebooks for the new year, some from Cambridge Imprint and the others from Choosing Keeping. I love English stationery what can I say!
I got one sketchbook, one square notebook for a specific project I’m working on, one hardcover diary for personal use, and a gorgeous tiny tortoiseshell weekly planner.
I have a guardian angel at Chanel Beauty because they sent me their Chance perfume and I’m really loving it. The first time I wore it I was taking an Uber to a Christmas party and the driver was like “what are you wearing” and I was like “oh, it’s Chanel :)” and he was like “which one?” and I feel like maybe he wanted to know to buy it for his wife or something so I was complimented and charmed and it’s safe to say the perfume is a hit!
That’s all for now,
xo Julianna
P.S. 2026 is gonna be amazing so dream big and love bigger
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I loved this!! realignment over a rebrand. genius.
You have inspired me to write a joy list. What a lovely idea. 🧡 I struggle with depression and I think having a little list to hand, of things that can bring me joy would be really helpful.