Stepping Quietly Into the New Year

I used to look forward to New Year’s Eve. There was something spiritual about how the world would pause and take a collective breath before embarking on new beginnings.

Like many people, I had a ritual. Whether I had big plans or spent the night alone, I would always carve out a quiet moment for reflection. It was a time of dreaming; a time of hope. To some extent, I’m doing that right now, but it’s different these days. The dreaming and the hope aren’t as bright as they used to be.

It’s hard to dream when the world feels so heavy. It seems like every year, it gets a little worse. Tyrants, turbulence, violence, greed. I'm a Millennial. I've spent the majority of my life enduring one once-in-a-lifetime event after another, so maybe I'm a little jaded. But I find myself entering 2026 with cautious steps.

The industry I work in is changing and not in a good way. Last year, I saw thousands of my colleagues and peers get laid off as companies ambitiously replace creatives with AI. This year, I wonder whether I'll be next or if the so-called AI bubble will burst.

Is this the sunset of my career? Or just another change I'll have to adapt to? I hope it's neither.

While there are still things in life I'm thankful for, I also feel like Frodo, wishing “none of this had ever happened.” When I look back at how the world has changed in the last ten years, I don't see positive evolution. I see a collective inflammation that has poisoned the human condition…and it’s taxing.

I miss when we were good to one another.

I miss when art was slow and deliberate and created by human hands.

I miss when work wasn’t about producing “greater output at inhuman speeds.”

I miss when screens didn’t consume most of our attention.

New Year’s Eve used to be a time to dream.

But this time around, I find myself wistful and nostalgic.

Sorry. I know this is a heavy way to greet the new year. But I did say that I wanted to create more human content and sometimes...sometimes this is what authenticity looks like.

There will be brighter posts to come, I promise.

Anyway, thanks for being curious. ❤