Why New Year, New Me? Yuck! Try One New Habit in 2026

It is now three weeks into the first month of the year and I have found myself back where I started last year. Bright-eyed and full of the ideas that I want to accomplish in the coming year.

But then the reality sets in - I’m staying late in the office to finish work at my 9-5, some nights until I’m the last one on my floor, heck the entire building, and all the lights around me have flickered off. I can hear the lobby security guards making their rounds floor to floor and screaming “HELLO” in hope that no one is left and they can make their way home. I do feel guilty that I am the cause of their late nights most of the time, and other times I have so much I need to get done in a day that I can’t just leave mid email or pattern correction. Honestly the corrections and typing up those updates so it's worded in a way that makes sense in case there is a language barrier and makes sense when comparing to the visual correction take the longest. 

But the best part of working late is getting to justify taking a taxi home, because honestly that late in the evening when there is less traffic and the drive home is somehow shorter than the commute makes it worth it. But then I get home and as much as I love going to bed early my body needs the time to decompress. So I snuggle into my couch with my many blankets from my time as a designer for Martha Steward, a heating pad over my feet because thank you low iron and begin doom scrolling to no end and no avail, eating dinner in front of the TV, because thank goodness my husband had to foresight to cook or order a dish I would like, then subsequently getting in bed to scroll some more. Only to feel the clawing desperation of wanting to create, and in a fit of frustration I toss the covers off myself and run into the studio. I struggle to enjoy the small time I have in my studio, because of the overwhelming ideas that flood my mind with little time to complete them, and the knowing that one day it will become a nursery and future bedroom for our progeny. In this room I sit at my desk and open my journal to write a single page of the destitution I feel, my lack of completeness in life, and hope that this will solve all my issues.

And in some small way it does. 

I began ‘The Artists Way’ by Julia Cameron some time last fall and even though it is a several week long program I have floundered the opportunity to stay consistent with my morning pages. I have only just reached week 5, probably due to a lack of sleep and not waking early enough to have time to write, workout, get ready for work, and be on-time to the office. I learned quickly that I couldn't continue to chastise myself for simply not having enough time or mismanging it. Being consistently creative is in so many ways better than waiting for a large swath of motivation to strike! But the honest truth is that my time is limited and I want to have it all. I want to enjoy my time making ice cream(a passion I didn't know I had, hello pastel de guayaba flavor), seeing my family, having the most fun with friends, taking long walks with my husband and dog, cuddling all morning with my cat, tending to my roses and saplings, and somehow find time to see more of the world, all while creating art. Its tear inducing

If this year is anything like last year then the cycle will continue. Two videos on my youtube, one pattern released from my designs, and absolutely nothing changes. This has to cease. In one of the previous weeks of ‘The Artist Way’ Julia emphasizes that an artist that doesn’t create will become despondent, depressed, irritable, easily frustrated and more! All of these things I have felt and been feeling for years with no cure, save a little watercoloring here and there, or a distraction with home projects. The year 2026 has to be different, because when I envision my future, it isn’t with sadness and desperation, its filled with the joy of creating, the balance knowing where I am in life and where I am going, the confidence to know that what I am creating means everything to me, and still serves a purpose in the lives of others. That is why I create, design, technical design, pattern making, to fill others with the joy of knowing clothing can fit well, function, and look beautiful. It just takes patience.

So here is to creating the 2026 I deserve and honestly we all deserve because work in some way shape or form, will always be there, but not creating and leaving that time unused will continue to carve a hole in your heart. That missing piece can always be healed and refilled but a small part of you may be left wondering ‘why did I take so long to do this thing I love so dearly?’

So my one challenge for myself this year is to take that modicum of time I have at the end of the day, be it 30 minutes or an hour and do something. It might not have to do with a future project or accomplishing some bigger goal, but I will do something. Paint a watercolor gradient, doodle, draw a fashion figure, make a one layer no frosting cake, create a new ice cream flavor and refrigerate til the next day. Just do something! This seems easy enough, but in actuality it is  quite difficult but I believe that so many inspiring discoveries about yourself can be made in these small moments of time.

So tell me what can you create in 30 minutes?

Til next time,

A