Your AI-free reminder that you can find or create joy while also feeling fear, rage, despair, and other prickly crap.

If New Year’s resolutions work for you: yay.

I don’t subscribe to that channel.

I like to see opportunities for new beginnings available to us throughout the year: Sundays, Mondays, solstices, equinoxes, birthdays, the start of spring training, to name a few.

While there is nothing wrong with espousing a hard line of rigorous change, say after a few weeks of celebrating, eating heavy food, and a handful of liminal days you’re going to be a draconian self-disciplinarian and go to the gym five times a week or completely cut sugar and caffeine out of your diet; there’s a good chance you’re setting yourself up for failure. Too much, too fast, with no infrastructure.

Cut yourself some slack.

I like to think of the new year as a fresh notebook.

New notebooks are something I have a lot of experience with. My massive collection includes a little bit of everything: ruled, dotted, blank, spiral bound, saddle stitched, hand-stitched, hard bound, composition style with white pages, composition style with rainbow pages, sketch paper, watercolor paper, square, landscape, pocket sized, leather covers.

Each one represents so much potential, so many thoughts to be rambled, so many ideas to escape onto the pages.

Wait, okay, I just came up with a goal for 2026: to get to the last page of at least three notebooks. And I don’t mean the pocket-sized cuties of crappy drawings. Watch this space for updates. And help me be accountable.

So, a new year as a fresh notebook or container, a new space to fill and personal frontier to explore. Sure, I could implement this anytime, but I like the discrete nature of 12 months, 365 days to learn about and embody an idea or concept. Hence, the word of the year.

Some words I’ve heard people committing to for 2026: SPACIOUSNESS, SOFT RESONANCE, ENOUGH, NOURISHMENT, GENTLE, VILLIAN, COYOTE, SILLY GOOSE, SWAGGER, and UTILIZE. Your word might pop out at you, as mine did. Or you might overthink it, as I am wont to. Morgan Harper Nichols has put together an exhaustive list of ideas. If you can’t decide on one, choose eight that resonate with you. Write each one a separate piece of paper, fold them up and place them in a vessel. Every morning, or evening, for seven days, set aside a moment to pull one out. Don’t open it. Simply pluck the folded paper from the bowl or jar and discard it (trash, burn, flush). On the seventh day, after choosing and discarding your paper, there will be one left. Open it. This is your word. (This is a shorter version of a practice done around winter solstice.)

My 2026 word chased me down and tackled me: RITUAL.

John Scott, in the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, defines ritual as

“…an often-repeated pattern of behaviour which is performed at appropriate times, and which may involve the use of symbols.” (2014)

According to braintrust at Wikipedia,

a ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning.

Very big and loose definitions.

I didn’t wake up on January first and ritualize the shit out of my day. In fact, I didn’tt consciously perform any rituals. Instead, I’m starting with an awareness of where in my life they may occur. I don’t want to say performing a ritual, because that gives me the ick.

There is much reading and learning to be done. That Wikipedia entry is hella juicy with almost 100 footnotes and a significant reading list. I’ll let the concept guide my non-fiction reading this year. Ritual is the filter through which I will explore the world in 2026.

I am not religious, but grew up going to Roman-catholic church and school. While I’m familiar with many of the rituals, they seemed more to me like rote than ritual.

I’m curious to explore what ritual looks like outside the context of worship. How can I use rituals in my life to bring more little joys?

I’m so excited to dig into what rituals mean to me, and in my world. So excited, in fact, I started a new notebook just for this.

I’d love to hear your words for the year and/or anything you want to offer about your little rituals.

Also, I really hate that so many projects/challenges begin on or about January 1. It’s too overwhelming. We have a lot going on with taking down holiday decorations, putting our lives together after we’ve turned into piles of post-holiday sludge. Can we get some read-along-with-me programs or drawing-a-day challenge that starts on July 17 or April 23? Any random day not overwhelming and already loaded with expectation. <end rant>

I’m always open to ideas, suggestions, shenanigans, tomfoolery, collaborations, cheese, snacks, and field trips.

You can find my art here and here. I offer custom workshops and design. I am the proud guardian/custodian of a 17 year old cheeseburger named Patty.

If you are a free subscriber, please consider supporting my efforts to make the world a less shitty place. Pick an annual price that feels comfortable for you and allows me to get paid for my work.

Cheeseburger & sweet potato fries $21

Movie Ticket, no popcorn $15

I heart art $30

All photographs and art are by me, Rubi McGrory, unless otherwise noted.

I occassionally use affiliate links. Support the arts however you can.

words and images © Rubi McGrory 2021-2025