Witch, Please.

"Like Cynthia and Glindiana, I can hold space for good things to arrive while still keeping my head on a swivel."

How prepared is too prepared?

This is a question I find myself asking a lot, especially this past year. I like going into situations with at least a little control over what’s happening, but the great unknown—and my tendency to eventually adopt a que sera, sera energy—usually takes center stage.

About two weeks ago, I decided I wanted to see a psychic. Not everyone is game for psychic visits, but I was mostly curious about what I might be gearing up for in 2026. 2025 has been pretty transformative on a personal level, and I wanted to know if the seeds I’ve planted were actually going to have room to bloom.

I was prepared to hear that they would. And thankfully (from what I can remember), that seemed to be the case.

However, my brain wasn’t prepared to download another nugget of info that (spiritually) I can’t share here! I went in expecting one type of news, and the news I got kinda fvcked up my day.

I was expecting tarot, and got hell no.

hopefully not!

Because of that, a few days later, I asked a friend who’s been practicing tarot for a few years (and is good at it) to do a 2026 year reading for me. (That was what I wanted when I visited ol’ girl in the first damn place, but got spooked instead.)

I was prepared to hear predictions and deeper insights filtered through the cards. And thankfully, that was what happened.

What I wasn’t prepared for was hearing that 2026 might still hold a few faith-testing moments. But this time, I wasn’t nearly as shaken.

I’ve gotten pretty good at moving through life’s sticky seasons. In fact, I’ve been training for them since childhood. My mother prepared me to keep going even when things get hard, and as an adult, it’s a skill I’ve only sharpened. If I can get through some of the worst things people can go through and still come out on the other side, future issues could be a cakewalk.

All of this to say: you can really only be so prepared. Both the psychic and my cosmically-attuned friend assured me that 2026 holds some genuinely good shit (love, career momentum, financial stability). But that doesn’t mean I should assume those things are guaranteed. Optimism without discernment is just delusion with a Gucci belt on.

I’m realizing preparation is not simply about bracing for some sort of impact. More so, it’s about not getting so comfortable that I stop paying attention to what’s going on around me. Life has a funny way of rewarding effort and humbling arrogance, sometimes in the same week. Like Cynthia and Glindiana, I can hold space for good things to arrive while still keeping my head on a swivel.

I don’t want to go into 2026 scared af, but at the same time, I can’t hand the wheel over to Miss Universe and hope she’s in a good mood that day. A little prep here and there won’t ruin the magic. If anything, it gives me somewhere solid to stand if things get shaky.

You really never know what a year will bring. Things could go wildly left. Things could go suspiciously right. (And given my **luck**… “suspicious” is always the appropriate adjective.)

Is the trick to outsmart fate? 🤔

Or do I have to meet whatever shows up without panicking or pretending I didn’t see it coming? 🙂‍↕️

If I walk around pre-braced for disappointment, I’ll miss the very experiences meant to teach me something I couldn’t have prepared for anyway. Life still is meant to be lived in the midst of the predictions.

So in the meantime, I’ll prepare for the worst, hope for the best, light my sage and smudge, pull my cards, and let the fates do what they do. No matter what issues have been trying to take me out, those bitches are going to have to work harder, not smarter, to get me rattled in 2026.

Talk soon 🧙

---

The Watering Hole 🐘

What I’m Loving Currently

It’s allllll about the workbooks in this section this time, y’all!

I just picked up a self-help workbook that’s been treating me really nicely. It’s called The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte, and me, my highlighter and my page tabbies have been going to TOWN. Through the workbook, I’ve been mapping out feelings I want to feel in all aspects of my life, in order to live in my soul’s truth. I’ve done quite a few things that don’t align with my soul, and in my 30s, I’ve made it prettyyyyy clear that I’m not going to continue to do so.

A lot of the “read me” part of the workbook is about reframing our desires and goals. For instance, one may have a goal to make $150K a year, just because it’s a sexy number. LaPorte argues that this isn’t really a “goal” in the truest sense because it’s just that, a number. (And I would agree.)

The real aim would be that you are aiming to create a life where your work is meaningful, sustainable, and is something that not only supports you but also helps others who need what you’re doing a helluva lot more than you do. That goal to help others makes your soul feel like it’s on fire, because what your core desires is charity.

You picking up what I’m putting down?

This book is helping me pull back the pages to find my why.

If we don’t actively work towards the life we want to live, whether that’s through self-help books, soul-searching, manifesting, vision-boarding, or just doing the damn thing…how are we going to evolve? The more we choose our soul’s desired feelings over external objectives, the happier we are. Yes, money is a desire that can help create joy. But it’s the meaning behind what we do that makes the real difference. What’s worth it isn’t what you have or what you’re doing, but how deeply you’re living in the truth of your why.

What I’m Hoping To Try

In a classic case of “Christmas Gift Gone Wrong,” I now am the proud owner of The Artist’s Way workbook by Julia Cameron. I am really interested to see how it expands my worldview, my ideas, and my way of moving as a multihyphenate creative. (Especially now as one who doesn’t feel holier-than-thou using the latter phrase to describe myself.)

Playground Notes

I touched on this briefly in my last ‘stack, but revisiting the songs, movies, shows, or activities you loved as a kid really can lift your spirits. It might even open up a well of joy you didn’t know was there.

Life is too short to act like childhood has to end when you become an adult, and to anyone who feels that way…therapy is calling!!!!

Christmas music definitely wasn’t on my 2025 Bingo Card, especially since I’ve always been a bit of a Grinch when it comes to the holiday. But when “Sismas 2026” (sister Christmas) was postponed because my sister got the flu, I found myself craving nothing more than listening to my Christmas playlist, watching Home Alone 2, and just soaking in some mini-solitude before seeing loved ones for the main event. Some may say my heart grew three sizes 🥰

During this time, I even concocted a plan to (hopefully) throw an (of course) themed Christmas banger of a party next year and all the years following, because I felt so moved by the memories of what Christmas could feel like, and the way I want to think about the holiday, moving forward.

So…see you next year!