After signing off from work for the holidays, I spent a late afternoon going back and forth with myself over my personal ‘theme’ for 2026. 

My overall mood about the previous year ranged from Yes, I survived! to general-bordering-irrational dissatisfaction over how I spent my time and effort. I badly need to regain myself, to pick myself up after months of reading slumps and unfinished project dumps.

One of the things I couldn’t shake off were the projects that are near and dear to me, yet I’ve ignored or abandoned for the most part of ’25. This space, Diwa Daily,most especially got the cold shoulder, and it ached to know I’m paying for something expensive, yet have not used since April! 

So here I am, folks, kicking January off with two intertwining personal themes that will define how I’m going to spend each day: finish and create. 

The Finish theme

• Discipline is the main driver. This year is all about tuning out the pings and alerts to buy the newest arrival, and focus on 1) being content with what I have and 2) finishing what I started.
• To finish is to stick to the tools I currently have until they’re fully consumed or used up: pens, pencils, notepads, journals, and more. If I can find an alternative that doesn’t need spending or won’t ₱2000 ceiling, I choose that option.
• To finish is reading at least 50 books that line my shelves, choosing to silence book trends or hype when I have just as captivating stories within reach. I have my trusty social reading tracker to satisfy my urge to share what I’m reading, and a reading journal for random notes as I turn pages. 
• To finish is to sit down and watch that American TV series or anime that I started last year, but had fallouts with because of time and distraction. I think I counted about 10 shows or series that I’d like to finish this year: Bridgerton Season 3, My Happy Marriage, Dandadan, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, Spy x Family, and more. 

I even went as far as to challenge myself to use all of my handbags, one for each month. For January, I’m bringing the gorgeous Polène Cyme with me wherever I go… okay, okay, it’s my motivation to prep for my next bag purchase at the end of the year. So sue me! 

The Create theme

I utterly miss the creative side of my soul. I’m so thirsty for opportunities to write with my hand, shuffle words and phrases, or string lines with intention. I crave for the energy to write drafts, publish blog entries, or post videos of my Corgis doing exceptionally well during their training sessions. 

Wanting to be as realistic with myself, I listed the number and types of written work I aim to produce throughout the year. No hard rules, no expectation for craft of the highest of quality—just raw practice of showing up at the table and penning what comes from the heart. The reference books are readily available, and the Edit button waiting if I ever feel something doesn’t sound right when read. 

I think I noted 140 pieces of written work, ranging from blog posts here at Diwa Daily to written entries in an old self-care journal I had back in ’23. There’ll be some that are solely handwritten because I desperately crave to ‘make’ something from scratch. I’ll see how it goes. 

The first stone toss

With that, I celebrate this blog post as the first stone toss towards my finish and create journey. 

It took me so long to gather up the courage to speak again, to add a page to this space. I allowed myself to put blogging off for another day, though that day never came last year. I kept making excuses that I should start next month or next year in the spirit of the ‘fresh start’. 

Man, am I glad I could finally kick the can and put this out there. It was embarrassing, pathetic even, but here I am ready to make amends. Let’s see where this goes.