Creative Chaos Newsletter January Edition

Happy New Year my beautiful chaos gremlins and creative phoenixes. January is the month where the glitter settles, diets get weird, and the muse wakes up feral. For most people, January is the reboot no one really wants or is ready for but the reboot we all need. December sort of leaves emotional seasonal glitter everywhere and then January walks into our lives like, “Oh, we’re doing honesty with ourselves this month? Great!” January is full of chaotic creativity, healthier lifestyle choices, and us fully convincing ourselves this year is going to be different because you wrote it down or said it out loud for your New Years 2026 goals. Welcome to 2026 where the vibes are maximalist, the art is moodier than ever, and the algorithms are acting like they need a nap. Let’s dive into what’s stirring the creative pot this month.

Creative Exhibition Spotlight

January feels like it’s stacked with exhibitions tailor made for introspection, emotions, and anyone who loves a good aesthetic spiral.

London is doing the most this month:

• Sverre Malling: At The Mistress’ Request . Twisted fairy‑tale drawings blending innocence and macabre, opening Jan 9^th at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.
• Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency . The iconic 40‑year retrospective of her raw, intimate photography, Jan 13 at Gagosian. (Date may change)
• Richard Avedon: Facing West . A rare look at Avedon’s portraits of working‑class America, Jan 15 at Gagosian Grosvenor Hill.

Emotional weather, but make it art:

• Jane Hayes Greenwood: Weird Weather.  Surreal landscapes blending climate anxiety and personal grief, Jan 23 at Ione & Mann.

Identity, migration & memory:

• KV Duong: Where Wound Becomes Water.  Latex works exploring heritage, queerness, and diaspora, Jan 30 at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery.

Mental health as a shared human thread:

• Kindred at Bethlem Museum of the Mind. Jan 16
• The Weight of Being at Two Temple Place. Jan 24 Both explore vulnerability, community, and resilience through contemporary British art.

BOOK RELEASES — January 2026

January is feral with romance releases and here’s a few that check off spicy, cozy, and chaotic.

Romance

• Playing for Keeps Alexandria Bellefleur, Jan 6. Think rival publicists + sapphic tension + celebrity chaos. I’m looking forward to the drama.
• Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone, Jan 13. Single‑dad professor + nanny/colleague tension = midwinter heatwave. This will be a hot one I bet.
• Catch Her If You Can Tessa Bailey, Jan 20. Marriage of convenience with baseball player + burlesque club owner. Added to my TBR list and I’m recommending this to the book club for sure.
• The Last First Kiss Julian Winters, Jan 27. Tender, queer second chance romance set at a wedding. Love a second chance at true love.

Chick Lit / Contemporary Women’s Fiction

• The Charmed Library Jennifer Moorman. January. A magical library where book characters step into real life. It’s giving cozy, meta, and perfect for readers who fall in love with their book characters. Added to my TBR instantly.
• Most Eligible Isabelle Engle. January 13. A journalist infiltrates a reality dating show to expose it… and catches feelings.

Self‑Help Adjacent / Uplifting Reads

While January 2026 is heavier on fiction, several releases offer emotional reset energy:

• Track of Courage Susan May Warren. January 6. Uplifting, redemptive themes wrapped in an adventure narrative.

SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH TRENDS

2026 is shaping up to be the year the internet collectively says: “Be real… no, like actually.”

What’s IN

• Authentic, unpolished content. People want raw > polished. Users are fatigued by AI perfect visuals and craving human messiness.
• The Anti AI aesthetic. Content that proves a human made it is trending hard.
• Micro‑communities are making a comeback. Discords, broadcast channels, private groups. Depth > virality.
• Creators as the face of brands are also going to be bigger than ever this year. People trust people, not logos. Founder led storytelling is going to be king.

Social media as search

• Nearly half of Gen Z prefers TikTok/IG over Google for discovery.
• Clear, keyword rich captions and on‑screen text are now essential.

Video shifts

• Short form videos still dominate, but longer videos are making a comeback. YouTube Shorts up to 3 minutes, TikToks up to 10.
• The “3 second hook economy” is now non negotiable. That means the first few seconds are all you have to catch the attention of the audience. Make it count.

Social commerce boom

• Social shopping is projected to surpass $100B in the U.S. alone by 2026. Let’s work on making that really count for small businesses.

Creative Chaos takeaway January is all about remixing and reinventing. Art is exploring faith and identity. Books are giving us romance, escapism, and emotional tension to curl up with. Social media is leaning into unhinged humor, nostalgia, and collective delusion. Micro‑vlogs, mini‑essays, and cozy‑chaotic days in the life content are about to thrive. January isn’t a clean state. It’s a collage and you get to decide what pieces stay and what pieces go. See you next month.

XO,

Savi Monroe