What I Want For Women in 2026
Ah December… what a joyous (hopefully) time for holiday celebrations. Of course, it can also be a stressful and/or painful time of year for many folks too, especially people who have experienced loss, lack support, or have strained relationships. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or none of the above, I hope this season brings you peace and joy in whatever capacity you can find it. I find great meaning in the symbolism of winter - a time of hunkering down and resting, so that we can reemerge later when we are ready.
It’s also the time of year that lends itself to reflecting on the year and thinking about the year ahead, whether or not you are a New Year’s resolution person or not. This is especially true for me since my birthday is near New Years.
New Year’s Resolutions…
This won’t surprise any of my clients, but I’m pretty anti-resolution. For me, it smacks too much of diet culture, “new year, new me” vibes, viewing oneself as a fixer-upper, and American propaganda about individuals being responsible for societal problems (i.e. pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, Make America ___ Again) to feel values congruent for me. Too much shame, blame, and oppression for me. Hard pass.
I want me and my clients pursuing more compassion, taking up more space, and ADDING to life. What do you want MORE of? Not shrinking, restricting, and fixing.
However, I’m very pro reflection and dreaming new realities for yourself!
Side bar: personally, my fave thing to do is to choose a single word that embodies what I want to strive for in the next year. Past words have been nurture, peace, becoming, etc. and more that I can’t remember. I’m still mulling over what my word for 2026 will be…
So in lieu of a blog post about How to Maximize Your New Year’s Resolutions, etc., I wanted to instead write about my most fervent wishes for all of us in the coming year.
More activism
I hope we can all find multiple, values-aligned ways that work for us to engage in activism. It can be so overwhelming and we can’t fight for all the causes all the time, but I think it’s important to pick at least one and DO SOMETHING.
It’s not only a helpful antidote to despair and stress, but folks with less privileges and the future of our country are counting on it.
There’s no shortage of topics impacting women’s wellbeing to advocate for- making sure people don’t go hungry (how is not starving children controversial?!?!), speaking out against genocide, protecting women’s healthcare and reproductive rights, standing up for our trans and nonbinary loved ones, protecting democracy, the list goes on and on. The people in power want us to feel overwhelmed by despair, but there are more of us than there are of them and we all can do our part.
More pleasure
My recent piece on Body Image and Fatphobia in the Bedroom really had me marinating on the ways in which racism collided with Protestantism to create modern day antifat bias out of a shared desire to squash appetites for pleasure (food and sex). It is an act of resistance to allow yourself to pursue pleasure!
Not to mention, finding joy in ways big and small, is an important act of resistance to the current political climate AND absolutely essential to fighting the anxiety and despair of the current moment in time we are in in the US.
I want for us all to give ourselves permission to fully pursue pleasure in 2026 through delicious foods, sexuality and sensuality, play and silliness, laughing until our bellies hurt, dancing like nobody is watching, soaking up the beauty and awe in nature, taking the nap, wearing the bold and fun clothing despite fear of judgment, using the fancy items we are “supposed” to reserve for holidays, putting on the damn swimsuit and enjoying the water, etc.. However you can find joy, I want you to do it! We have a lot to learn from our pets and small children on this topic. Follow their lead.
More peace with food and body
In our current body image hellscape period of time we are all living through, more than ever, I want us all to find ways to make peace with our bodies and eating. “Healthy eating” isn’t healthy if it’s full of guilt, shame, and anxiety or excludes foods and food groups reasons other than allergies, celiac, etc.. Ditto for exercise.
Having a disordered relationship with food or exercise (and if there is guilt, shame, or anxiety present, it’s disordered…) isn’t something that’s your fault or something to be ashamed of - it is the predictable outcome of living in a culture that tells us all the time in all the ways that we need to fear fatness and avoid it at all costs (even if that results in loss of life).
However, there is a different way. Imagine sitting down to eat a meal and not feeling anxiety, guilt, or shame during or after. Imagine pursuing health in ways that feel compassionate, sustainable, and (unlike dieting and many “wellness” remedies) actually work long term. Imagine getting to enjoy food and movement again, with people, without being self-conscious.
This is my wish for all of us for 2026.
Start Therapy to Help You Pursue Pleasure and Peace in Manhattan Beach:
If any of the above resonates with you, and you realize you are not experiencing pleasure and peace the way you want to, consider reaching out for help. There are many evidence-based therapies that can help you bring more of what you want into your life, and release that which is no longer serving you. Start by following these steps:
Schedule a consultation at Well Woman Psychology.
Meet with a therapist specializing in women’s issues.
Learn how to release what is not serving you and take up more space.
About the Author:
Dr. Linda Baggett is the therapist and CEO of Well Woman Psychology, a private therapy practice dedicated to women and serving clients virtually in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington. Dr. Baggett works with women to learn to let go of what is not serving them, be that relationships, patterns, shame, ways of thinking, or internalized oppression, and make more space for values-aligned, joyful, peaceful living. She is trained in many evidence-based trauma treatments, including EMDR and sex therapy. She also works with clients to heal from trauma, relationship issues, pregnancy loss and miscarriage, infertility, perinatal and postpartum struggles, and body image and size-based oppression.
Disclaimer: This blog is for educational and informational purposes only, is not a substitute for individual medical or mental health advice, and does not constitute a client-therapist relationship.