Liz Armbrecht

I’m usually a New Year’s Eve Resolution proclaimer: setting intentions, picking out a year theme, planning out what’s happening each quarter in advance.

But after a 2024 that swiped my legs out from under me (saying goodbye to Morph Stanley and my home of seven years) and then a 2025 that was supposed to be better than 2024 and then was almost worse in every way (some of the most intense stress I’ve ever experienced in my life), I’m a little hesitant about what 2026 has in store for me.

I feel like I’m Scott Sterling defending the goal with my face, propped up and dreading the next hit.

So I decided that in lieu of goals this year, especially knowing that we’re going to move again and hoping that we’ll get another dog, I instead picked four vibes that I want to cultivate: Coziness, Contentment, Creativity, and Comfort.

(I promise I didn’t start out wanting them to all have the same letter, but once I got “Coziness” and “Creativity” it felt like I had to commit.)

So in honor of the vibes, I’m looking into specific practices that will help me achieve these feelings. And I’m starting with Creativity because Lord knows I need a boost of this in the winter when all I want to do is stay in bed! Brr.

Personal Curriculum

This hot internet trend is appealing for a few reasons. I love structured learning, but I struggle to structure it for myself. Some might say I ready “widely”, but I’d say I read “chaotically,” chasing wherever my current mood takes me instead of really getting into a topic. And then, sometimes, I’ll finish a book and realize I didn’t retain hardly any of it.

Lots of folks online have already outlined how they’re structuring their learning this year, and I found some templates I’m going to try. I loved this creator’s laid back approach as much as this creator’s strict academic approach.

The Gygax ’75

My brother turned me on to this not-at-all-hot internet trend last year and I want to accomplish it this winter. Essentially it’s a 5-week creative practice to build a setting for your Dungeons & Dragons campaign, from the wide world to a specific dungeon for your players to crawl in.

Gary himself wrote his process down in a fanzine, and I’m planning to flesh out the setting of a campaign that I started last year with a group of women. Since we’re all so busy, I thought I’d get off easy and only need to create a town where the girl gang could do little missions monster-of-the-week style.

Immediately, my wonderfully creative players had questions about the wider world the town sits in and how it pertains to their characters and backstories. So I’m going to plan out some larger set pieces for them so I can stop sweating and making things up off the top of my head that will probably contradict each other at some point.

Arts & Crafts

Nothing gets me in a flow state more than making something. I just finished making little scrapbooks for my friends for Christmas, crocheting woobles for the first time from a kit, then got to work on repairing a beloved old blanket that Sevro au Barka chewed a little (shredded) during his stay with us last summer. I was able to borrow a rotary cutter and a simple sewing machine from my library, and I used some know-how from my Grandma to quilt the biggest pieces back together.

I’m so satisfied with and proud of the result! I think it goes to show that the crafting time can’t be a “whenever it happens” sort of thing, but needs to go in the daily or weekly schedule just like buying groceries does. They both feed me!

Early 00s-Style Amusement

I know everyone’s feeling it: How do we overcome the algorithm? The AI slop? The brain rot scrolling?

This maybe crosses over into the “Contentment” category, but I think feeling better in my brain can only help with my creativity. I’m nostalgic for the days when I got bored (and when I didn’t have to pay bills). Some ideas I’ve thought of or gotten from other people that sparked an “Oh yeah, I remember that!” feeling include:

1. Making playlists for specific vibes or topics (and not letting Spotify smart shuffle the same 11 songs into them)
2. Looking at beautiful coffee table books for the pictures instead of scrolling when my brain is tired
3. Staring off into space on public transportation instead of being on my phone
4. Playing video games with my brothers (the one bonus of being adults: not fighting about whose turn it is to hold the controller)
5. Making play dates with friends (board games, video games, movie watching, trying new restaurants, crafting together, cooking together)
6. Tummy time (yoga)

It’s the last day of the first month of 2026 today, and I’m feeling cautiously optimistic, if not about the year, then at least about my highly flexible plan for it. I know that I feel the most like myself when I fill my cup and let my creativity flourish, so I’m hoping this will set me up for the feeling of a successful year, no matter what else comes my way.