Have a Fat and Happy New Year!
Oh by golly
New Year’s approaches rapidly, and I’ve been contemplating how to make 2026 the best year yet.
So here is my (very personal) guide to a Fat and Happy New Year:
After repeated violations of my body boundaries, I’m cutting toxic, body-shaming people out of my life. It’s been happening by degrees over the past few years, but when comments are no longer just being said to me, but to MY CHILDREN, that is something I cannot abide. Ending a relationship hurts, true, but I’ll do what’s necessary to protect myself and my kids from body negativity.
I’m reading a LOT of romance novels. For the plot. Obviously. No, seriously though. Per bell hooks, “Harlequins serve as an important fantasy vehicle that offers an escape route for women trapped in dysfunctional families…The central therapeutic message in Harlequin romances is you will not be abandoned What I am still seeking is that love that will not let me down” (quoted in this article from the Washington Post in 1999). It’s not so much that I need a rescue from a dysfunctional family (unless we’re talking about my family of origin, and then see #1 on this post). But the stories get me inspired to live a bigger life, one in love with words and stories and love itself. In 2025, I’ve read 70+ romance novels. To be honest, I started in July with Fourth Wing and have read voraciously since then. I’m not sure how many I’ll read in 2026, but I know it will be a good amount.
I’ve chosen my word of the year for 2026: HAPPY. And I’ll be pondering its reality and aspirations to it in my fat body. Things I know that make me happy?
nerdy jokes with my husband
laughing and singing Hamilton with my kids
a clean home and car [WORK IN PROGRESS]
regular talks with my best friends
cultivating new friendships
writing more…fingers crossed!
Now, dearest gentle reader, I’m desperate to know—what is making you HAPPY as we leave 2025 behind and begin 2026, the year of the horse?
Love, peace, and joy at new beginnings,
Amanda <3