💬 What do you want to remember?

Light News from January 2026 🕯️

Hi friends,

Yes, that’s friends—not friend—today.

I typically address my emails to just one of you, because when I sit down to write, I like to imagine we are having a conversation. Two of us sitting in cozy chairs, with warm drinks in our hands. But there’s always room for more people to join us. And in darker months—and darker times—it feels especially important to make sure we are checking in on our people and communities. The people who read this newsletter, and hangout in the comments, are one of my communities. So I’m checking in on you—my online friends.

It’s the time of the month where I open up a discussion thread for us to share anything that feels like “light news” from our lives. But around the world, January has been rather heavy… and definitely dark. So dark, in fact, that I thought about not writing this list—skipping this month’s thread altogether. Easier to tell myself it’s insensitive or will seem “out of touch” with events happening across the globe—and closer to my two homes now, too.

As I’ve shared before, I’ve always been drawn to the depths—which often leads me to the darkness. Once I find myself there, it feels easy to stay. A familiar place with well-carved paths, guided by two voices: a cruel inner critic + a distrustful pessimist. I know how to stay in the dark place. The more challenging practice, therefore, is to look for the light. I believe it’s out there. I believe we can find it, if we look. And I believe we can always come up with new ways to create it, and bring it into our lives and our work.

So that’s what I’m going to continue trying to do here, friends.

What “light news” do you have from January? I’ll go first…

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Because I didn’t write one of my weekly dispatches, I’ll start by telling you a few things I noticed this month: the fact that I’m sleeping better this season than I have maybe anywhere/ever in my adult life. (Sometimes until 8am, which is unheard of for me.) That I’m deep enough in my book proposal now that I’m in the stage where I’m dreaming about it—and waking up knowing what I want to write next. The birdsong in the garden, even when it’s still dark, even when it’s still dark and raining. The distinct birdsong of a European Robin claiming his territory here. How the sun is setting just a little bit later and we’re getting just a little bit more daylight each day. How this extra daylight is making us daydream about sunsets in the spring and summer. How much fun I’m having researching trips I may or may not go on this year. How grateful I am to have a partner who brings Gottman exercises/relationship prompts to breakfast. How good it felt to focus on strength training, workout every other day, and be able to feel that I’ve used my muscles all month long. And how, even though the sun only came out once or twice in January, I haven’t felt a hint of SADness. (Just some restlessness!)

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2026 calendar by Raahat Kaduji

Light News from January 2026 🕯️

The Kitty and I solidified our morning routine of me getting out of bed and her meowing at me incessantly until I put food in front of her. This involves me getting dressed, going downstairs to the kitchen, getting her dish out of the dishwasher, chopping up the little pill she takes each day, and adding it to her food. We talk the whole time. I say things like: “Good morning, Kitty!” and “How did you sleep?” and “I know, you’re hungry!” and “It’s coming, it’s coming!” She meows in-between each phrase, and I swear her tone changes to match mine. The whole process takes about 5 minutes and it’s become something I genuinely enjoy doing. But because it’s January, it all happens in the dark. I don’t like the idea of her eating in the dark. So this month, I started leaving a soft light on for her, when I left the room. (She’s almost 19! I’ll give her all the comforts she deserves!)

I read every single morning, before doing anything else. Well, I fed the cat first! But I read before I ate breakfast and read before I wrote. And I continued reading throughout the day, mostly by listening to audiobooks. I listened while doing almost anything! Driving, cooking, walking on TM’s treadmill. This is how I read 4, almost 5, books in January (4 = “a lot” for me). I’ll tell you more about them later this week. But outside of just finally being able to get through a few books again, I reflected on the fact that I used to find it difficult to read here, when I was a guest. TM and I used to get such little time together, I always wanted to give him and the kids my full presence—and often didn’t even bother bringing a book when I came over. Before moving in, I wondered what my reading habits might be like, when I had even more things to think about and be responsible for: a partner, two kids, the cat, chores, work and my own goals. Six months in, it feels amazing to notice that I’m reading every day—and writing more too.

I had a ridiculous amount of fun researching books I might read for The Taste Test. One month in, I’m still feeling excited/a little obsessed with this challenge. And if you want to create your own fun challenge in 2026 and still need some inspiration, I’m going to share this list of ideas again.

After sharing the challenge on Instagram, an author from Edinburgh reached out and offered to send me one of her books! When the package arrived, TWO were inside! I’m excited to read them, and it made me feel hopeful that I might make more writerly connections and friends this year…

After years of being a regular patron and all of the librarians learning to recognize me, I finally told them I’m an author. I’d been holding that card close, for the same reason I didn’t tell my old neighbours until I was days away from moving out of The Lighthouse. I also liked the anonymity. Sometimes, it’s nice to be Cait Flanders the author. And sometimes, it’s nice to be Leigh Flanders (my legal name, so the one doctors, dentists, librarians, etc. know me as) the human. But after they asked if I’d be interested in attending a local author event, and saying they didn’t get author visits very often, it felt fun to finally share my little secret…

TM and I watched a few good movies. The last Star Wars one stands out, because it marked me finally finishing the trilogy of trilogies. But the best movie was Train Dreams. It was so sad and so beautiful¹ and so meditative. When it ended, tears were quietly streaming down my face and I thought: that will be the best movie I watch in 2026. I’m sure of this, because I think it might be one of the best movies I’ve ever watched, period.

I asked TM if we could keep the Christmas lights up in our bedroom for a little longer, and am happy to report: they are still there—and still turning on automatically at sunset.

We celebrated a birthday in the house this month! The preteen is no longer a preteen! We decorated with colourful bunting and a balloon arch, and a small scattering of presents (including many sweet treats) across the dining room table. It rained for most of the weekend, but the house was warm and bright.

I bought two puzzles off Vinted, which the newest teen² promptly asked if we could dig into. We started and finished this one last weekend. I thought it was going to be hard… and I was right lol. But I loved the challenge.

When I sit down to write these lists, one of the first things I do is open the photos app on my phone and search the current month. I did not take many photos in January. It was one of the darkest, wettest months I think I’ve experienced since moving to the UK… so I don’t have any photos of beautiful walks in nature, because I did not go on any beautiful walks in nature. I didn’t really go anywhere! But my photos tell me that I did do one thing: cooked! I cooked some old faves and tried a couple new recipes, which are going to become regulars now (sheet pan gnocchi + Italian sausage tortellini soup). They are all really simple meals. But I continued to plate my food and take pleasure in how good it looked, even when I was eating alone. Especially when I was eating alone.

And because I’m me: do you want to know what felt especially joyful this month, friend? It’s taken nearly six months, but a couple of blackbirds (meaning: 1 female + 1 male) have finally found me here. I don’t feel connected to them, the way I felt connected to Birdy. But I’m enjoying putting bird seed + water out for them every day, and slowly getting to know them… (I haven’t named them yet, but we do have a resident squirrel and his name is Reggie! Reginald the Third, to be exact.)

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When I look at this list, I realize many of the things I’ve shared are answers to the questions: what do you want to remember about January? And what seeds did you plant at the start of this new year?

How would you answer those questions, friend? What light news do you want to share with us?

And perhaps an impossible question for some of you, but I’m going to ask anyway: what’s the best movie you’ve ever watched? Or what’s your favourite movie from the last few years?

xx Cait

1. There was also one scene of a train trestle that looked all too familiar. We later confirmed that while most of the movie was filmed in the US, this particular scene was filmed just outside of Victoria at Kinsol Trestle—a place I’ve walked to many times before.

2. I don’t write about them much, but I do need better nicknames for the kids!