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Day 134 - 2025

I have started and restarted this post about 83 times now, and nothing seems right.

I am over 2025.

It was exhausting.

As if surgery and being laid off from work wasn't enough (it was, by the way), navigating this through the current political landscape has only magnified the challenges.

The lack of work due to the tariffs and an uncertain economic outlook. Needing insurance through the marketplace, only to have the subsidies not renewed for next year. Worrying about unemployment running out in 8 weeks, and trying to figure out how to budget with increasing utility costs and grocery bills.

May the memory of 2025 fade and never come back.

With that in mind, I have tried to find some things that might increase my luck in 2026. In case you don't know me in real life (or you do, but you are learning something new today), I don't really believe in superstitions or magic. If you think "everything happens for a reason," I say sometimes those reasons are bad decision making and that bad things sometimes just happen.

Now, that's not to say that there aren't some crazy coincidences, or things that feel like guiding forces. The most recent example I have is Halloween this year. I was supposed to go out with a friend that night but decided not to. I was going to go out and try to have some fun (something desperately lacking in my life) while she worked and tended bar, and she would drop me back off home probably around 2am. Somewhere around 5pm that night, I was like "sorry to bail, I'm just not feeling it." About 45 minutes later is when my husband called me to say he had cut himself and was on his way to the ER. At the time, I was like there was something calling me to stay home to be ready for this. In reality, I was just tired and was really struggling to force myself to feel fun, and my husband had been rushing.

Anyway, back to the point at hand. If I am trying to find ways to usher in luck and prosperity and send the bad juju out and accept only good vibes, you know I'm desperate. My normal methods of being prepared and working hard don't seem to be panning out, so here are some other things I might try today to encourage good luck to find me.

  • Put basil in your mop water. The amount is measured by your heart. Basil helps bring in prosperity, protection, and luck. Add lavender if your life feels particularly chaotic, and/or red pepper flakes and/or cinnamon for extra protection.
  • Wash your doors with mint. Warm water infused with mint, also measured with your heart. Do the inside and outside of exterior doors. Not only does it smell divine, but mint brings in renewal and success and keeps out the unwanted.
  • Eat 12 grapes at midnight. This is a Spanish tradition to bring in good luck and prosperity. You're supposed to eat one grape with each chime of the clock announcing it is 12am, but I doubt I can do that. I'm going to eat 12 grapes as quickly as I can, and if I only get the amount of luck in the number of months I eat within those chimes, then it's more than I have now! (You can read more about the history at Wikipedia.)
  • Wear white. In Brazil, they wear white to bring in good luck and peace.
  • Leap into the new year! Stand on a chair and as the clock strikes midnight, leap off the chair and into the new year. This is a tradition in Denmark. (Maybe I'll jump off the chair, and crawl right under a table and eat my grapes.)
  • Eat round foods, and other food traditions. Eat Hoppin John, and add a penny under your plate for extra luck and prosperity. Try lentils for the same function. In the Philippines, they have a midnight meal featuring 12 round fruits to signify abundance, one for each month of the year. (I have no idea how I'll have enough room to eat 12 round fruits, but I'll try.)
  • Turn a lemon into a pig to welcome prosperity into the new year. Don't forget to put a penny in its mouth!
  • Bang bread against the wall. It sounds like my ancestors in Ireland used to do this to chase away the bad spirits.
  • Open your windows and doors to let the old year out!
  • Break the peppermint pig? I have never heard this, but the NYT has an article about Saratoga smashing pink peppermint pigs. I thought I knew most of what was going on in this state, but this one threw me for a loop.
  • Sprinkle sugar on the outside of an exterior door to welcome in good luck, like they do in Puerto Rico.
I had heard of some of these before, but I have a friend to thank for the first two suggestions, and a Good Housekeeping article for details on the rest. The commentary is obviously my own.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to Wegmans so I can be prepared for tonight! Happy New Year, all! I hope it brings you lots of luck without much effort!

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