On January 1, 2025, I triumphantly declared that blogging was back, baby! More than 365 post-less days later, I can confirm that blogging was definitely not back… baby. So, in order to facilitate writing and sharing in 2026, I’m shifting my approach. Rather than setting a schedule of what I feel I should address, I am using Oliver Burkeman’s advice and leaning into what is most interesting to me week by week. No grand plan, no overarching strategy – just following my curiosity. 

Burkeman notes that an “interesting” life seems like a cop-out. We want to win, to dominate, to “nail it.” But I’m actively working on shifting away from the idea that life is something we need to accomplish. It’s become clear that if I view writing as something I need to do, something that would just finally work with a new app or system… I will continue to post on January 1 and rarely if ever post again. 

So, I had to tap back into why I am even writing posts in the first place. I was moved by the New Year’s Day episodes of Jonathan Fields’ Good Life Podcast on Unresolutions. You can dig further into the podcast, but briefly, I was struck by the idea that we should set directions for our lives, rather than dictates. Directions provide a compass and invite us to move towards something; dictates are rigid and keep our attention on what we are resisting. This shift encourages experimentation and flexibility. For me, this is moving away from feeling shame about the lack of writing last year, and towards simply getting more of my thoughts down on paper in the year ahead. And it provides me freedom to experiment with what energizes and excites me about writing, rather than using sheer will to make myself write what I planned months before. 

As we start the new year, the idea that has been sticking with me is the role of friction in life. So much of our modern technology seeks to remove friction, to make every single thing as convenient and efficient as possible. But to what end? What are we doing with the time “saved,” the time not spent commuting or running errands, the time not finding our own way through problems. I am reminded of (spoiler alert) the culmination of the TV show The Good Place – as the afterlife draws on forever and everyone gets exactly what they want, they slowly become (to quote Hypatia of Alexandria) “glassy-eyed, mush” people. While our current situation feels much more like the Bad Place than The Good Place, “glassy-eyed mush” aptly describes how I feel after being able to watch literally anything, order nearly anything to my door, not move a muscle and not see a soul. Much less friction; much less meaning. 

This is not to say I am immune to the desire for less friction, and what I perceive as more “free” time. I actually do have more flexible and “free” time than I have in other eras of my life. But things don’t suddenly feel easier or lighter. What is this “free” time for? How am I using it? Mindless consumption is the most friction-free use of my time, but that does not make things feel more fun and meaningful. Now that I have more flexibility, it is clear that HOW I use my time is more important than simply having more time and flexibility. 

That leads me to the theme of this year, which is ACTION. Not accomplishment, not grinding it out, but simply action. For example, if I am thinking about a post I’d like to write, or an idea that keeps coming up, instead of waiting for the perfect post or situating that idea in a compendium of others, I am just going to act and write the damn post. If there’s an email that is stressing me out and is rattling in my brain, I am going to send the damn email. The temptations of a frictionless life are everywhere, with the potential to thwart action at every turn (all while making you think you are being more efficient in some way.) This year is about choosing action even when comfort and inaction are calling. It’s about taking the next step, especially when I don’t have the answers. And, continuing to reflect on and most importantly share that imperfect journey as I do.  

I’ll talk about many of these themes this weekend, Saturday, January 24, during my workshop at Yoga Habit: Flourishing in 2026: A Yoga and Positive Psych Practice for the New Year. 

I am inspired by some of my favorite posts and newsletters that have consistent and brief sections, no matter what the overarching topic. So, I am going to try out an assortment of these consistent prompts and see what really sticks. Here are the possibilities I’m considering: 

A Small Idea | Whatever I’ve been pondering the last couple weeks

The Thing I Can’t Figure Out | A burning question, something I’m wrestling with that is evading an answer

Whoopsies! | Something I screwed up this week, big or small

Song on Repeat | Whatever is stuck in my head this week

The Musical I’m Writing | If this week were a stage play with choreo, songs, lyrics, etc., what would it be? 

Point of Connection | Something we might have in common, a practice you can use to connect, a suggested question for a loved one

Okay… so how do I actually do this? | An action from all of the above that you can do in the next 24 hours 

Thanks so much for reading – cheers to following interests and consistent writing in 2026!