One of my 13 Wishes for 2026 was to read intentionally. Like some of my wishes for the new year, I left this one a little open ended. It invites the question: read WHAT intentionally? Tarot Cards? Books? Zines? Musical Notes? Journals? People? Turns out, yes.
This particular wish fulfillment started almost immediately, with the turn of the new year! The first several months of the year were spent reading, sometimes furiously! I read a lot of terrific history, data and details for a new client, learning a great deal about historic gold mining in Arizona. There was plenty of opportunity for reading people, too!
In the spring, I read 133 submissions for an editorial project which had been in the works since 2023. My co-editors and I were coming down the home stretch and reading closely, in many ways. We read for grammar, style guidelines, line spacing, page layout, clarity, flow, etc. I read all the submissions at least twice, and many of them multiple times. The process reminded me how editorial reading requires a complex of uniquely engaged habits. Among them: focus, note taking, communication, cooperation, and co-laboring. We crossed the line in early summer! An Anthology of Urban Habits launched online at UC Davis’ StreetNotes a Journal of Ethnography, Poetry and Documentary Experience. Read it, let me know what you think?
What am I reading intentionally this summer? Walden and Civil Disobedience with a couple of my favorite witches: a Thoreauvian bookbinder/archivist who lives in the woods, and a poetess/magician based in Brooklyn. Friends who promote wish fulfillment are the best! Not only will I get to read intentionally, the archivist is excited to share one of her favorite authors and the writer seeks magical textual encounters.