Welcome to 2026 wonderful people! A new year awaits us, and I have a big, bold prediction: it’s going to be great! I can say this confidently because, with all my heart, I will be manifesting glittery good vibes for all of us.
2025 was a tough year for the world, so perhaps I was a little too excited to see the end of it. I decided after I published my last post of the year (Ba-bye 2025!) that I wouldn’t wait for the new year to start level-upping my life.
Here’s some of the things that I put in place in anticipation for a great 2026, all built around the central idea that “nothing will change if you change nothing“:
+ I made a mood-board filled with inspirational people and quotes as well as images that radiated with the positivity that I am aiming for this year.
+ I created a list of people that I admired and chose a couple as my imaginary mentors to give me imaginary motivational advice.
+ I started to whisper affirmations that aligned with my mood-board, mentors’ mentality and my vision of who I wanted to grow into this year.
+ I sought out meditations online (to do daily) which included manifestations for growth and success.
+ I began to mentally farewell the old version of myself, thank her for getting me so far in life and celebrating her wins, whilst also acknowledging that some of her old habits were holding me back on my healing journey.
Now, at the risk of revealing too much (whilst leaning into my new mantra of “be fearless”), here’s a sneak peek at a few of the images I collated on my mood-board (green and gold appear to be my 2026-colors and suns, stars, glitter and glow were recurring themes):
[Image sources: manifesting, office, grounded, be both, radiate love, age beautifully, stay connected, attitude, Viking vibes, Frida, Lagertha, magic, I am]
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[For a little context – I’ve been struggling over the last three years due to chronic migraine, but I have ALSO been having something of an existential crisis about whether to be a “migraine warrior” or adopt the more peaceful metaphor of a “healer-gardener” (read more here) – finding an image that acknowledged one person can adopt BOTH approaches was a revelation (I’m slow like that (even though I’m a Gemini!?)) – and the notion of being simultaneously gentle and strong / relaxed and intentional / as well as a wise learner, is going to be foundational for how I move forward in 2026.]
FYI – the eclectic list of kick@$$ women that I admire (“feel the fear and speak your truth anyway”), included real people and fictional characters, such as the artist Frida Kahlo (who graphically managed her pain), Gaea (Greek goddess of the Earth (who arose out of chaos)), Taylor Swift & Madonna (singers who reinvent themselves through new eras), Margret Chola (the Zambian ‘glamma’ grandma on Instagram), Mulan (legendary Chinese warrior who harnessed her Qi), Camila Franks (Australian kaftan designer and breast cancer survivor), and the Viking shield maiden Lagertha (a farmer who became a fighter).
Lastly, here’s a brief summary of the sorts of quotes I turned into manifestations, mantras, and desktop reminders: “all you need is less”, “grateful for everything that made me love myself more”, “I’m not here to be understood – I just want to be authentic”, “let your soul glow”, “I don’t hide my age – I decorate it”, “forest = for rest”, “the only thing you can take from me is notes”, “breathing in I heal my mind, breathing out I heal my body”, “don’t look back – you’re not going that way”, “write until you surprise yourself”, “underestimate me – that will be fun”, “actually life is beautiful and I have time” and “fck it – I’m in”.
The point is, rather than have a typical New Year’s Resolution – I wanted a New Year’s Revelation – I wanted to hit the ground with a radiating sense of purpose: a lighter, brighter, stronger me.
And it’s paid off already.
The day after Christmas, I was driving on the freeway to the family farm when the flat tire signal on my dashboard started flashing. That’s no biggie for most people, but for migraine-prone me, being curbside on a public holiday, with a boot full of bags, on a hot summer’s day, would usually trigger my “domino thinking” (where my mind invents a line of escalating catastrophes that crash my nervous system and potentially start a migraine).
This time – I looked at the flashing light and said, “what would Lagertha do?” Now, I know Vikings didn’t have cars, but since Lagertha can handle anything (including time travel), I knew she wouldn’t panic, she’d slow down and pull over, inspect the tires, and since there was no obvious damage, she would drive the 15 minutes to the next service station, and assess the situation then.
So, that’s what I did. I still couldn’t see anything wrong, but I knew Lagertha would be proactive, so I pumped up all the tires (although the pressure gauge was iffy so I just eyeballed what looked like a good lift off the ground) and then, (rightly or wrongly) I kept driving. Since the flashing light didn’t go out, I pulled into the next town to re-check the tires, and still not seeing a problem, I drove on to the farm.
It took a little over 24 hours, but a rear tire eventually started to visibly deflate. So, I called in some help, got the hole plugged and asked my mate to help me check the tire pressure of the other 3 tires, just in case. Um. Yeah. It turns out Lagertha was a bit trigger-happy with the air-pump and had overinflated two of the tires (one of them to nearly double the recommended PSI / kPa (it could have blown-out if I’d hit a pothole (which there are plenty of near the farm))).
Anyway – this is a long story, but it has a short moral – everything worked out fine – sh!t happened but no one got hurt – and because I stayed calm, there was NO migraine.
So for the next couple of days, I felt victorious and congratulated myself for my new attitude. Then one morning, right towards the end of the year, I decided to pull a Viking Rune from my bag (read more here) and asked if channeling Lagertha-vibes made sense as a New Year’s Revelation. I pulled out “Jera” which stands for ‘harvest & fertility’. It is (coincidentally?) often associated with the end of December, represents the passage of a full year’s cycle, and highlights themes of growth, encouragement, deliverance and patience – nice. Oh. And in case you’re feeling a little woo-woo (I’m leaning into more magical thinking this year and no longer ignoring the signs)… have a look at the symbol itself:
You might not see it – but I do: two ‘Ls’ one for Linda and one for Lagertha or else a L and a V for “Lagertha-Vibes”!
I’m choosing to believe that manifesting works – deep down, “repeat after me”, an inner voice that says “I got this” / “I am perfect”, over and over, will get you through today, tomorrow, the whole year… onwards and upwards you’ll build momentum, shape your soul (and perhaps every cell in your body), as you magnetically align your actions with your intentions.
To wrap up this first post of the year, I want to invite you to take a moment to celebrate the year that was and thank yourself for all that you did and achieved / survived / created / learnt in 2025 – yay you – you rock!
And then – step up into 2026 – be bold – create a big vision for yourself for the year ahead. Name it, visualize it, pin it up, look at it often, generate a musical play list to suit, create an imaginary mentor, make a mood-board. Then share your ideas with a special someone (it reinforces your motivation and gains support).
YOU ARE PERFECT
YOU ARE POWERFUL
2026 IS GOING TO BE GREAT
HEALING IS POSSIBLE
YOU GOT THIS
Whatever your New Year’s Revelation, have the most amazing 2026 my friends, there’s lots of great posts coming up that I’ve been working on, with a mixture of soul-searching, book reviews, science-dives, short stories, mindfulness activities and reminders to keep it real and get some rest.
Take care taking care, authentically and radiantly,
Linda xox
The Mindful Migraine 
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