Hello Computer - 2026 Yearly Theme

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Hello 2026

Happy New Year. It is 2026 and I need to set a new #YearlyTheme. To recap, a Yearly Theme is an intention for the year. For me, it is a rejection of a New Year's Resolution as they are too narrow focused and prone to fail. If I set a theme of "Exploration" and I felt that I had explored more than I normally would, then job done. It could mean I physically explored the world, remembered to ask friends questions about their life, or took macro photos of my belly button. As long as I finish the year feeling like I was roughly on target, then job done.

Previously I have gone with;

• 2021 - Year of Something Else
• 2022 - Year of Courage and Connection
• 2023 - Year of Queer
• 2024 - Year of Being OK
• 2025 - Year of Keep Pushing

I have a few ideas for 2026, but nothing is really jumping out. 2025's was "The Year of Keep Pushing". Perfect for those year long labour vibes, if constant pain is your thing. Not for me, but my health issues felt like a year long event leaving me burnt out by December. The act of pushing exacerbated the issues, so it was more like "The Year of Keep Pushing ... a tiny tiny amount." So, 2026. The Year of...

• Keep on keeping on
• Restarts
• Nudity
• Blogging

Keep on keeping on

Do I accept I can only healthily work part-time and keep on keeping on? Accept that at the age of 47, I can write and make photos so just keep on keeping on? Maybe?

Restarts

2025 ended with two writing pitches being picked up. While I've labelled myself as a writer/photographer for a few years now I haven't really pushed the writing as hard as I could. My portfolio could be better organised. Fix my blogs. Tidy everything up and restart things as a proper writer/photographer.

Nudity

The photos I took during the mass skinny dip last year are some of my favourite photos in the past decade. To feel comfortable enough around a naked person to photograph them, while also being naked shows how much I've worked on my anxiety. If there was some way I could spend time out in nature producing life-affirming photos of people, I would like to. But I struggle with all the practical issues of knowing where is safe to work, and not knowing anyone to photograph. The idea withers. Maybe 2026 is its year?

Portraits

Similiarly, portraiture has always been an interest and a struggle. After 47 birthdays I sill do not feel like I have a good way to talk to people. When my ADHD kicks in I can easily talk at people, but to? I struggle and it’s made harder with my hearing issues... my deafness. And yet, I still want to engage with people and make portraits. Chatty G gave me some tips and basically suggested I get out there and do another . Face the fear. Do not think through the fear from the couch.

Blogging

I missed a month on my photography-focused newsletter, Stargazer, and then another month and then a year. I worked on my personal photoblog with a view to bringing it back to life, and then saw a squirrel so that was that. At one point in the year I tried to set up an 11ty powered blog just because I missed that 2001 early web vibe. Back when blogs were weird. None of this social media performative nonsense. Just someone who built themselves a home to look after. I should blog more. I miss having a weird space, or at least a space to be. So much of what I do has to have a business focus, but I am not my business and I need space to play.

The theme?

Where does that leave me? Restart my blog as a naked blogger that keeps on keeping on? ... Don't all write in at once to vote your support. I have a wishlist of resolutions, and that is not what I need. My thinking is, I need something that ties these sub-themes together in something that gives me a bit of a North Star for the year. My theme for 2026 is The Year of Doing. Last year was an attempt to keep pushing in ways that I could. This year, I want to do things rather than think of things I could do if only...

To that end, and to echo how I started 2024, I once again ran into the ice-cold water of Liverpool Bay wearing nothing more than a thong (and thermal socks/gloves). Unlike 2024 there was no fear, doubt or disbelief in my mind. I knew I could, so I did.

Didn't I? There is a photo on social media from the dip where I've been erased. My reflection in the wet sand remains, but my thong and I are gone. Maybe my attire was my undoing in my attempt to start my Year of Doing? I was there though. I embraced what the sea could throw at me in a safe and silly way with friends and family. 6c in the water and 2c in the wind. No fear, just fun.

So, 2026. Let's do this.

Links

• Yearly theme ideas. The theme ideas below are referenced in my YouTube video “Guide to Yearly themes” which you can watch here .
• The First Photographs of Snowflakes: Discover the Groundbreaking Microphotography of Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley (1885). What kind of a blighted society turns the word “snowflake” into an insult?, I sometimes catch myself thinking, but then again, I’ve never understood why “treehugger” should offend.
• The #bOObs project.
• Peter Hujar’s Day: Ben Whishaw, Ira Sachs on LGBTQ history and the art of documenting queerness (EXCLUSIVE). Attitude catches up with film star Ben about the irrepressible pull of reality TV and "the day that changed my life," as he sits down with his latest director to discuss photography, memory and the process of being interviewed.
• Intimate, empowering portraits of India’s ‘third gender’ Hijra…. Call Me Heena — Photographer Shahria Sharmin’s new photobook provides the ancient trans and intersex group with space to tell their stories...
• I’m tired of being autistic. I know this won’t increase my popularity in the autism community, but I’ve been thinking it for a while now, so I might as well come out and say it: I am tired of being autistic.
• Sarah's Scribbles 12-Month 2026 Monthly/Weekly Planner Calendar - Andrews McMeel Publishing. Keep everything straight in your life with help from this colorful, playful planner by cat lover, acclaimed internet comic artist, and bestselling author Sarah Andersen.