Capsule #127 ft. Chani Ra

Hello and happy new year!

I hope you all had an amazing break. Cold, dark mornings are not easy but I’m actually pleased to be back writing for you :)

Obviously today’s issue is about resolutions — reflecting back on last year, realising the impact they do or don’t have, and choosing to set the tone for 2026 anyway. If you haven’t found proper time to consider where you’re at and what you might like to go towards, I hope this helps you on your way.

Holly x

I only remembered my 2025 resolutions when I was pressed to retrieve them over lunch on New Year’s Eve. Not a conventional resolution, but my friend annually asks us to come up with a word to focus on for the year ahead. The word becomes an anchor, a way of being, a framework you can apply to multiple things. For 2025, I had chosen confidence. Looking back, I remembered a person who felt sheepish about pursuing their goals (Capsule is a big part of this!), who was beginning to love the gym but lacked the authority to own it, and someone who wanted to have a viewpoint (on a situation, on culture, on anything) and have the strength to stand by it.

Like most resolution setters, I think I forgot about this word and my intentions around February. I guess my focus shifted to weekly admin tasks (buying birthday presents, returning parcels, fitting in exercise) and planning the year ahead (booking trips, dealing with unexpected issues, helping friends with important life stuff). Yet when I look back on the past twelve months, I see instances of that anchor word, confidence, peeking through. I created a proper business plan for Capsule and pitched for investment to grow it. I dealt with personal issues like a grown up, focusing on the things I have control over rather than spiralling over the things I cannot (mostly). And I advocated more for my own needs, which greatly improved certain aspects of my life. (One good example: I struggle with insomnia and have gotten better at being frank about sleeping arrangements and commitments that I can’t take on without having a rubbish time.)

Perhaps it is true that setting an intention at the beginning of the year does plant seeds for the stretch of time ahead, even if it becomes subconscious. For this reason, I’ve opted to choose a word again for 2026. I’ve selected decisive, a trait that intimidates me. I struggle with decision making and have done for a long time; I agonise over the options in front of me, and give even the smallest of choices more airtime than they deserve. I make mental pro-con lists over things like when to wash some clothes or what to eat for lunch, and bigger decisions often come with a fact-finding mission and multiple interviews with loved ones to decipher the right path. At my core I know that the majority of decisions I make don’t really matter, but I operate with some fundamental belief that there are right and wrong choices. Right decisions, I believe, are rewarded with happiness, fulfilment, and safety. Wrong choices, I fear, are followed by anxiety, regret, and sadness. I try very hard to make the right decisions, even on a micro scale, for fear of being punished in some way in the future.

When I hear adages like “making a decision is more important than the decision itself”, it feels like hearing some fairytale logic. Something nice in theory, but so clearly not true. There must be a right way! But this quote from Hannah Black summarises indecision perfectly:

Will this be the year of spending less time in the arid maybe? In the eight or so days of January so far, I’ve tried to make decisions quickly (again, many of these minor) and focused on moving forwards. So far, the shift has been energising. Plans are in diaries without dwelling on alternate paths. To-do lists are completed more quickly, because I’m prioritising progress rather than contemplating the most efficient sequence of events. And I’m having conversations with less prior rumination over how they might go, allowing them to unfold in real time, without scripts or expectations.

These words are important: “dwelling”, “contemplating”, “rumination”. They represent endless cycles into nothing, and at 29, I hope I have enough evidence and self knowledge to trust that it’s well within my capability to choose what to do and give it a try. Being decisive, or indeed any other quality, may just be a muscle that needs activating to work.

So I invite you to choose a word for the year ahead. Something to plant now while we remember, and trust the impact to pop up later if we tune into it now. Some word inspiration:

If you need help deciding:

1. Gut check: Does this word feel like a relief or an obligation? (Pick the relief, in the sense that it’s something you realise you genuinely want to tackle or embrace, even if it feels scary).

2. Rainy Tuesday check: If it's a rainy Tuesday and you're tired, does this word help you decide what to do?

3. Opposite check: Is the opposite of this word something you struggled with last year?

It’s worth saying that of course every word has an inverse, and some situations will require a different approach. It is okay and sometimes necessary to mull over decisions with more time and care, but I know that my regular way of being leans too far in this direction. If you want to be more disciplined, for example, there will absolutely be times in which it’s better all around for you to loosen the reins. This is not about rigidity for the sake of it!

And if you are still struggling to understand what you might want to anchor around, these questions courtesy of Anne Helen Petersen are a good way to reflect on 2025:

• When did you feel the most joyful and carefree?

• What gave you energy — and what drained it?

• What seemed impossible — but you did it anyway?

• What habit, if you did it more consistently, would have a positive effect on your life?

• What did you try to control that was actually outside your control?

• Is there anyone you need to forgive in 2026?

If nothing else, answering these might be a lovely thing to do in a cafe this weekend. And a final nice thing to do - I enjoyed this post from Ellie Middleton this week sharing things to do in January to prep for the year ahead. They are designed for ADHD brains, but whether that’s you or not, there’s some worthwhile tasks that would go perfectly with a cosy afternoon. Happy happy new year!!!

And finally…

News from the Capsule universe you may have missed this week:

• Timotheé in his sweetie era

• And so are Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley

• Some of us are wearing thermals, and some of us are Kristen Stewart

• Myha’la secretly got married last year and the at-home photos are lovely

• Can you guess Jacob Elordi’s teen crushes?

• The new Hermés website is a great example of why brands should hire artists

• ICYMI: Ashley Tisdale wrote an essay for The Cut about breaking up with her “toxic mom group” (which includes Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor)

• …and then Matthew Koma, Hilary Duff’s husband, weighed in

• Last year we added eusexua to our vocab and this year it’s sexistential. And we might have André 3000 to thank for it

• Lucy Dacus read a lot of books in 2025. Here’s her list if you need inspiration

• And the white wine from the Eras Tour documentary is flying off the shelves (desperate to try…)

This week, Chani Ra popped into Capsule to share what’s 🔥hot🔥 and what’s not 🙅‍♀️ …

Chani is a content creator and fashion writer based in London. She publishes ‘The Fashion Nap’ on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Substack, a project all about talking fashion while her baby naps.

📺 Watching: Sentimental Value in the cinema. Plus Emma Chamberlain’s in and outs (come and do a Hot & Not queen!!!), and Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley on Recess Therapy.

📖 Reading: This article by Nicole Vassell for British Vogue on The Traitors and unconscious bias. Every time… And this lovely essay from Lena Dunham on the things she loves about her mother’s taste.

🎧 Listening to: Secret Love, the new Dry Cleaning album, Quicksand Heart by Jenny on Holiday (the solo album of Jenny from Let’s Eat Grandma), the new Robyn singles, and next time you don’t know what to put on in the office or on a run, try the Marty Supreme Soundtrack.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear how you’re finding Capsule - let me know here. And if you have a friend who might like it, do refer them! 🥺

See you next week 💋

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