Happy New Year to those on the Gregorian calendar—although it feels like by the time I put this out I’ll actually manage to hit the Lunar New Year as well. Sorry about that. I’ve never said that I’m particularly good at timekeeping—and although I could give plenty of excuses for it, the actual truth would be as basic as: I kept forgetting about writing it.
2025 was certainly a year, wasn’t it? I think I put out less videos and blog posts this year than I have since I started doing them both (this is just a guess though, I haven’t actually counted them). Weirdly enough I have plenty of videos recorded from throughout last year, including some new Stories Turned Into Food (that I’m very proud of) and some more Disneyland Paris ones as well, but—well, let’s just say, that a lack of confidence in my general ability and a new editing software don’t go together very well. When I used to make videos as a teenager (or tried to) editing was always my bugbear, and it seems time hasn’t changed that. If anyone has any tips on how to make it easier I’d appreciate it. Both my Mum and I are tearing our hair out over it.
As for writing, it’s been hard to get motivated whilst dealing with so many mental health problems. If any of you have read my old post ‘Claustrophobia in Disneyland’ you’ll know about my struggles with it. Well, in fact, it turns out I’d titled it wrong. What I have isn’t Claustrophobia, but ‘Cleithrophobia’—a fear of being trapped. The difference being that, unlike a claustrophobic, I would get into a small space as long as I could see a clear exit.
When I was at Puy Du Fou last year (and other places did this as well) I tried to explain this to a person at the gate of a show—basically asking whether they lock the gates and whether there is a clear exit that I can leave if I need to—and the only response I got was ‘but the show’s outside?’. But, hey, how can I expect them to understand the difference between claustrophobia and cleithrophobia when I only learned this year that I’d mis-titled it myself for years?
Anyway, all that to say, the cleithrophobia got worse this year. I now can’t seem to force myself to get on any form of public transport (or any vehicle that’s not our own car). I’m trying to tackle it and deal with it but it’s been a long road, with an even longer road ahead. And if it wasn’t my mental health limiting my options outside of the house, I also have strong OCD causing stress in the kitchen (and a mouse problem we’re currently trying to deal with that has exasperated the OCD badly). But, you know, in the words of my therapist the only way I’ll get better is to be kind to myself, and not judge it.
A fact I keep telling my Mum as she recovers from knee surgery this winter. Because yes, that’s also happening. She’s been about a month post-op now and though it gets better everyday (though she wouldn’t believe that if you told her) it’s also still a long road ahead for full recovery and a hopefully better life. The stressfulness of going out, for either her walking problems or my mental health troubles, has been especially prevalent this year and I’m really hoping for a better year in 2026 so that we can see more of a positive side to life again.
Anyway, anyway… Kindness, remember? I have to be kind to myself, even when it’s hard (and so do you, dear reader. You’re worth so much to the world and you deserve to be loved and appreciated just for being here and staying strong). What are my hopes this year? (you know, other than you subscribing to my YouTube channel, Instagram accounts and/or blog—winky face—I internally cringe every time I have to write that, by the way).
This year I hope to put out a lot more videos, both long and short form. Gain confidence editing videos so that they become a less stressful experience. And maybe show the world some more of my stories—at the minute, working and struggling working on some long form books, I’ve been writing a lot of short stories set in their respective universes during my planning phase—would anybody be interested in seeing any of them? Maybe I’ll share some of them for you to enjoy or tear apart?
Either way, I’m going to try really hard to make this new year a truly ‘new’ year and focus on the things that make me happy (writing, cooking, doing videos etc.) and find the fun in them again. Just remembering all the benefits they bring to my life would be perfect for me.
Oh, also, earning some money so I can help fund my videos etc. would also be great. But first, the work. See you in 2026 (or welcome already to 2026, it is the 8th already) and thank you for reading.
I hope your 2026 finds you leaning into what makes you happy also. I hope you’re having a great day and that, if you’re not, one’s coming for you soon. Thanks again for reading.
Yours sincerely,
The Literary Onion
P.S. Is there anything you’d like to see more of on any of my channels? (YouTube: The Literary Onion—for food, Literary Onion Plays—for writing; Instagram: LiteraryOnionFood, LiteraryOnionWriting, NegativeNellieComics—yes, I have three, because I secretly want to punish myself by creating more work; Blog: http://www.literaryonion.com) . And definitely get in touch if you know of an easy ‘idiots guide to editing’ resource we can use. We would love to get our turnaround moving quicker so we can start being able to make all of the many ideas we’ve written down in our countless notebooks (countless because we keep forgetting which one we’ve written them in and end up writing in a new one). Thanks again for reading and let’s go 2026.
The Literary Onion 