Goals for 2026

A belated happy New Year, dear reader. Wishing you and yours peace, joy, and community in the year ahead.

This now my fifth year of posting goals for the New Year and looking the world around us, I thought about taking a break from these posts. 

(I first posted this song in 2020; it seems even more apropos now...) 

 

But here we are once more. In no particular order, my goals for the coming year:

1. Participate in the 2026 Books in Translation Reading Challenge. The latter has been a real highlight of my past few years of reading, bringing me into contact with so many books I would never otherwise have read. 
2. My current contract ends halfway through 2026, so figuring out what and where's next is a particularly pressing goal. Fingers crossed!
3. The timing makes this a particularly ambitious goal, but I plan to participate in Jami Attenberg's 1000 Words of Summer, writing challenge, which starts May 30, 2026 and ends June 12, 2026.  
4. Two goals in one: revise a short story from the science fiction writing class I took in 2025 and submit it for publication. 
5. Produce at least six blog posts, including a conclusion to my "Learning New Words with Lymond" blog post series--currently halfway through the alphabet; and a post organizing the list of writing workshops and classes I made after my previous class ended.
6. Without injury, get back to regularly running 3-4 times a week, and by the end of the summer, be comfortable running 25-mile weeks again.
7. Take a weaving class or workshop.
8. Play music with other people again.
9.  In academic publication, I want to meet my current deadlines and clear the decks on work that is overdue. Right at the end of 2025, I was awarded a summer fellowship to work on a next big project, so I'd like to get a draft of a book proposal for that finished this year.
10. As a doctoral student, my weekly bread-baking hobby was an excellent way to cope with stress and uncertainty, so my goal for this year is to return to that habit. Will I be able to bake 52 different kinds of yeast bread in 2026? Let's find out!
11.  Land at least one textile UFO (unfinished objects that I can remember include a quilt, a knitted shawl, a knitted blanket, a pair of pajamas, hot pad hooked rug, bowl or hat made by nålbinding and embroidery of a seascape, so there's plenty to choose from...)
12. Volunteer in my community (food bank, animal shelter, or state park) at least three times.

What are your hopes or ambitions for the coming year? Whether you have many New Years' Resolutions or none, I wish you the best 2026 possible.