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A New Year on a Fast-Spinning Planet

We live in parlous times; there’s no doubt about that. Is our little planet actually starting to spin faster and faster with each passing year, or does it just seem that way?

So now we’ve arrived at 2026, and the planet is spinning very fast indeed. What events and experiences lie in store for us—ourselves, our families, our communities, our nations—in the coming twelve months? We cannot know. But we do know one thing: much will depend on the choices we make: as individuals, in our small circles, or as citizens of a nation.

A new year is an invitation to express optimism, and to do otherwise would be churlish. That’s what I’m going to do, then. 2026 will indeed be a good year in many ways. Yes, there will be plenty of noise—loud events and angry voices that seem determined to pull us off the tracks of human progress. But there will also be an untold number of quieter moments that never make headlines, but that affirm our slow ascent toward greater fairness, dignity, and opportunity for all.

In the end, the year will be written less by forces beyond our control than by the daily choices within our reach: how we speak to one another, how we listen, how we disagree, and how much care we extend when it would be easier to withdraw. That is where the future quietly takes shape—not only in 2026, but always.

I’m Andrew Wood — a storyteller, writer, and educator — and this is my online home. The site brings together a collection of work from the different strands of my life over the past decades: stories to inspire, reflections to provoke thought, and resources for creative learning. If you’re in search of some charming tales, or you’re simply a lover of words and ideas that have been crafted in meaningful ways, I hope you’ll find something here that speaks to you.