I have wonderful news. We made it out of the bad place. Please, let me finish before the objections. Whether or not you agree that 2019 was the last time anything went right, there is no doubt it has been a miserable slog since. There are exceptions, Kipyegon and that guy who won the mega-jackpot come to mind. But in general it feels like the world ended and those of us that did not wind up in purgatory landed in hell. 

That is all over now. Yes, there are wars knocking at our door, fascists rallying the troops for global domination, and an election is coming. Climate change jumped out of the textbook and, like TikTok, is impossible to look away from. The meat is not meat, even the eggs might not be eggs. Microplastics are and will continue to be everywhere. Unemployment rates keep climbing and who even knows what is going on in the schools. Do the children know math? The lake basin is turning into an ocean. Lunch is now boiled maize and black tea. Plus, you have probably been dumped. 

Come back, where are you going? Let me finish. 

One does not arrive at the bad place because bad things are happening. That would make life the bad place. Impossible. Life is a precious gift whether you believe it came from God or is part of a continuation billions of years in the making. We are here only for a moment. When we forget this, we slip into the darkness and lose touch with the life force that sustains everything good. 

This year, to end the horrifying streak of bad luck that we’ve been subjected to, we shall turn our faces to the light. In defiance of all common sense and *gestures at all the chaos* we will be bold. 2026 calls for audacity. 

After a prolonged catastrophe, it becomes hard to let things go or turn away from what no longer serves us. And while it’s true that we will always be afraid of some new thing that will make the whole world stop and leave us isolated and hopeless, it is also true that fear blinds and cripples. If there is air in your lungs, you still have a chance. Never imagine that something is automatically out of reach.

Certainly not hope or freedom or love. The main work of the cruel bosses and punishing landlords is to convince us that we are trapped and our worth is what they say it is – nothing at all. Never accept this, not even on the days when you agree with them. You are allowed to despair every once in a while. It is to be expected given all the suffering everywhere. But as the poet Gwendolyn Brooks said, “Even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night.”

Remember there are worse things than being alone or even unemployed. Burn your bridges, move forward. 

As the lines that define reality blur, we plant our feet on solid ground. We cook the food like we were taught to, make it yummy, filling and uninstagramable. We make things that are imperfect but useful. Even an ugly gourd will still hold water. The crotchet blanket will be cherished whether or not the pattern is perfect. And by picking up the tools and putting your unique self to the task and completing it, you will have changed the world. We do the work that has always served us, that which requires our full hands, hearts and minds. Standing work, kneeling work, dirty work. 

Listen to the music that our bodies know better than our formally educated brains. And dance. Go where the people are and risk a little embarrassment. It is the only way. Money might be the ultimate sanitizer but people have been successfully shooting their shot since before the invention of currency. Loosen your waist, bro. Grab a guitar and shamelessly rip off Harry Kimani. 

We will be there. This is the Year of the Horse or will be when the Chinese new year begins (which, walk with me, I think we can agitate to be made into a national holiday). In the past year of the snake, we shed. Now we have to run. For our lives, for our freedom and future, for the sake of it, and towards our wildest dreams. 

This year, be ungovernable.