AliHasStories

Come get me, 2026. I’m standing right here, bitch.

First entry of the new year. I have a little bit of that beginning-of-the-year, naivete riddled bucket of hope. You know the kind. The kind that dissipates exponentially with each passing day, until we’re all just completely bleary-eyed and bleak. The kind that has completely depleted by mid-year, and in its place is birthed an equally fervent hope that the year will just. fucking. end.

After all, the next year couldn’t possibly be as bad as this last one. Can it?

I’ve decided this year is the Year of Being Unbothered. I mean, sure, the world is crashing down around us in real time, and most of us don’t even have enough of a break out of the grind to realize just how collapse-y things have gotten. Those in the grind that do realize it, are too busy to do anything about it, because rent is obscene, electricity has gone up like 200% over the last two years because of AI data centers, whole cities are drying up because those same centers are using up all the water we have left, and groceries are like 500% more expensive than they were prior to the Pandemic.

And yeah, we just officially crossed the line into Totalitarianism, by kidnapping the President of Venezuela to try him on non-existent drug crimes, using means not approved by Congress and also knowing Congress is completely hamstrung, and won’t do anything about it. It appears we’re using the Russian playbook, except the US has always been the most superior country at Imperialism ever to be born. In my opinion.

But, “The Pitt” is an amazing show, we know the entire “Stranger Things” story line, and cigarette smoking is finally starting to slowly disappear.

We just cured an incurable cancer by modifying our own T-cells, via CRSPR, to include instructions on how to destroy ONLY the cancerous T-cells, without inducing a cytokine storm, which means it can be used concurrently with chemo.

Josh Johnson is doing stand-up daily, Jon Stewart is still hanging out at The Daily Show once a week, and my friends are still here, still friending. Still laughing at my corny dad jokes and thinking my quirkiness is cute.

I can’t do much about the state of our country, of the world. I can’t take that weight on my shoulders and still, you know, live. And I do think we should keep living, regardless of what happens to us. What else can we do? I’m not going to carry fears and worries around just because they exist. I’m going to do my very best, within the constraints of, like, life, to celebrate the Year of Being Unbothered. I’m going to do my best to wake up each day and just face that one day. I’m going to do what I can to find happiness in the small moments in between all the bullshit that will inevitably hit us all this year.

I want to pull in my friends closer, celebrate them, spend quality time with them, and create memories that may counteract the madness, just a bit. I want to travel the country while it’s still allowed freely, and see the best of us amid all the chaos overhead. I want to hike to a waterfall, close my eyes, and feel the misty water counter the warmth of the sun on my skin.

I want to take the time to really listen when someone is telling me something, to slow down and really invest in the quality of conversation. I want to be better about accidentally interrupting people in my eagerness to relate, to show I understand. I want to finally sit down and make the perfect playlist for the gym, instead of remembering as I sit on the rowing machine that I have been meaning to. For like half my life, lol.

I want to feel steady and light, quiet in my mind and full in my soul. I want to collect laughter like butterflies collect nectar. I want to make everything I touch better than how I left it. Every person, too. I want to face challenges with the unbothered energy of the squirrel that sits high in the tree above my dogs, chewing on an acorn while making direct eye contact with them, practically begging them to go ahead and do something about him being there.

I want to channel the unbotheredness found within Jonathan the Tortoise, who’s 193 and still kickin’ it at the pace he chooses.

I want to find the playful, easy unbothered vibe the manatees emote. Mix it with the mild disinterest, while still gathering the tea, of the Capybara, and finish with a healthy shot of the absolute unseriousness of Red Pandas, and top with a sprinkle of Sugar Gliders. That’s the level of unbothered to which I aspire.

This is that hope I was talking about before. I’m sure by June I’ll have many things to say about the abject naivete of my 2026 bucket of hope. But for now, I’m unbothered by that possibility.

Be well,
Ali