Happy New Year (Again)
Connecting in nonlinear time
I’ve found myself living in a liminal space the past six weeks: 2026 began, but I wasn’t inspired by all the new year energy as I usually am.
Typically, my vision board is set before January 1st.
Goals delineated.
Plan for the year mapped out.
But this year was different.
And instead of fighting it, I decided to lean in.
Inspired by the concept of wintering, I allowed the new year to take its time to settle in.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the rest of Nature is still in retreat in January.
Hibernation.
Rest.
So instead of the frenetic energy of fresh starts, I let this January be about grounding. Easing into something new on the horizon, but in the present, focusing on internal alignment and intentionally moving slowly.
And together, in book club, we read the Monk and Robot duology: A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers.
This cozy read was an instant hit with the club, as a meditative journey that challenged us to reflect on our relationship with the rest of Nature and each other.
To question the way that the pursuit of purpose can sometimes take over and make us forget our inherent value as human beings regardless of contributions to the rest of society.
“You don’t have to have a reason to be tired. You don’t have to earn rest or comfort. You’re allowed to just be.” —Becky Chambers in A Prayer for the Crown Shy.
It left us rested and hopeful, and imagining what a world centered on enoughness would look like versus our present obsession with growth and accumulation.
And then I entered the advent season for Carnival.
Fete season: a time of parties and festivity oozing with culture.
I flew home for Carnival to celebrate Black History Month the way my ancestors celebrated emancipation and demanded liberation: through music, dance and a refusal to be contained.
Carnival for me is an annual pilgrimage. A ritual to reconnect to Source, to Land and to Community.
And to be reminded of my lineage and my right to freedom in the face of so much oppression around the world.
To declare all liberation intertwined, as we released inhibition in the wake of rising regional tensions spurred on by US imperialism.
Jourvert morning in Trinidad, February 2026
And while we shouted Happy Carnival, celebrating this kind of New Years, Chinese New Year and a range of other Lunar new year celebrations reverberated around the world, while Muslims settled in Ramadan and some Christians into Lent.
So much of the world is celebrating renewal and fresh starts as we continue on our way to Spring (another New Year).
As the frost starts to melt and time cycles along, we are becoming energized to really dive into a new year.
And that energy is important, as we face the unnatural darkness of fascism, authoritarianism and oppression in so many forms. It prepares us to look in the mirror, to face the monsters and put in the work needed to free us all.
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice —Theodore Parker
And so, for our next HopefulSpeculations bookclub we’re going to face the monster together as we read the classic: 1984.
"A masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace freedom is slavery and Big Brother is watching."
We’ll walk through the literary dark together, then meet to reflect on the lessons we take. Our foresight activity this month will be Causal Layered Analysis: we’ll unpack the layers of myth and meaning that make a world like 1984 (or the present) possible, and then reframe to consider the new myths and worldviews needed to transition to a new world.
Join us online on Saturday March 28th at 11am ET.
One More Thing
If you’ve been around for a while here you may recall that last year, we published our first community zine called Futurescapes, inspired by the 2024 UN Summit of the Future, and imagining possibilities for 2024-2100.
For the last year, I’ve been collaborating with the Uptown Climate Conversations team to deliver the Uptown Climate Futures program, focused on community climate conversations in uptown Toronto.
Our workshop series is culminating in a community anthology, and thanks to new funding, we’ve opened up submissions beyond program participants.
So if you’re looking for a home for some writing, poetry or artwork that fits the theme of Toronto Climate Futures, please do consider submitting here by this Saturday February 28th.
All details are mapped out in our Submissions Guidelines.
Imagining alternate futures with you,
Alicia