Writers Jam

I’ve successfully converted 4 friends into making end-of-the-year presentations with me in the days leading to NYE. It started in 2022 where I had to give an exposition dump to my school friends about my new life, people, and experiences in college. It began quite simply, with people's introductions and timelines. Next year, I tracked my dating misadventures, complete with a ranked criteria scoreboard. The next year, I made something called a Spoticry Wrapped where I tracked where, when, with whom, and how much I cried that year.  Last year I gamified life to the extent where I was counting HP and XP for sweeping my room and brushing my teeth. It grew and grew to the point where our PPTs are basically televised events to my entire friend group on Boxing Day. 

This year I spent 50 rupees on grapes and ended up with an unopened box the next morning. I turned off the 11:55 pm alarm. Turned down my mom’s suggestion to join me in this new-fangled manifestation ritual. Cut the customary group video call at 12:02 am. Pulled the blankets just a little bit tighter and drifted off into a confused sleep. 

It’s not that I’ve suddenly shifted out of unbridled optimism for the new year. I was just annoyed that 2026 resists categorization, symbolism, or meaning. Hell, 26 doesn’t even have a ring to it like 25 or 27 does. As far as I can think, the only things 26 has going on for it are being a multiple of 13 (what a start) and the number of alphabets in English. I’m sure better poets can parse out some spiritual coincidence out of those facts. But I’m still negatively undecided on the overarching meaning of this year. 

I also have no clue as to what to target and make an especially useless infographic for this year. I am open to any and all suggestions. Maybe the amount of times I’ve sneezed or hiccuped this year? All the occasions I’ve had a truly transcendental meal experience? The number of times I’ve seen someone in a purple outfit in real life?

The only thing I have decided this year is learning how to be a beginner. I want to struggle and be bad at what I’m learning to do. The fear of being sucky at something new has deterred many a new hobby in past years. Way too many sketchbooks with pristine-white first pages and yet-to-be-laced-up sneakers. So, this year I’m going to get a harmonica and I’m going to learn Piano Man and terrorize everyone in the apartment with how loudly and wrongly I’m about to play those notes. I’m going to post shitty fanart to my extremely dead art account. I’m going to stitch kurtis with uneven armholes. I’m going to challenge Fate to a fistfight and be so terrible at it that she has no choice but to let me win as a consolation.