1/3/26 - Banished Words, What's Next After Stranger Things, and Resolutions

bribriny
2 days ago
2 min read

Saturday 1/3/26

Celebrate:

Saturday

Festival of Sleep Day

Fruitcake Toss Day (in the garbage)

Humiliation Day

J.R.R. Tolkien Day

National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

National Drinking Straw Day

National Write to Congress Day (don't swear)

Women Rock! Day

Sunday

Dimpled Chad Day

Free Flower Basket Day

National Spaghetti Day

National Trivia Day

Pop Music Chart Day

Tom Thumb Day

World Braille Day

World Hypnotism Day

Respondents to an annual Michigan college survey of overused and misused words and phrases say ” 6-7 ” is “cooked” and should come to a massive full-stop heading into the new year.

Those are among the top 10 words on the 50th annual “Banished Words List,” released by Lake Superior State University.

Also in the top 10 are “demure,” “incentivize,” “perfect,” “gift/gifted,” “my bad” and “reach out.” “My bad” and “reach out” also made the list decades ago — in 1998 and 1994, respectively.

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A new year. A new school year. A new week. Mental health experts say our brains are naturally drawn to fresh starts, wired to find motivation in new beginnings.

These moments act like a psychological reset button, nudging us toward self-reflection, habit-building and behavior change. Yet despite making resolutions year after year, many of us struggle to stick with them. Why do we keep coming back for more?

Resolutions can also give your brain a boost. There are actually psychological benefits to making goals, even if you don’t follow through on them. Simply setting resolutions can help you feel a greater sense of control.

we often approach goal-setting with an all-or-nothing mindset, viewing success as binary: either you succeed or fail. So when someone skips a single workout or misses a day of journaling, the brain quickly convinces them they’ve completely blown it.

Without structure, environmental cues or a deeper connection to our values, goals can start to feel less like inspired choices and more like chores.

So some tips, Set micro goals to build self-trust and form connections with like-minded people. Also reset if you falter and keep going!

See the full article here.

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Stranger Things has just ended and it was a glorious season 5 and a great show overall!

But where do you go next?

I've collected a few sources with suggestions.

Things like

It: Welcome to Derry (HBO)

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple)

Castle Rock (Prime)

Locke & Key (Netflix)