In 2026, Having Fun Is No Longer A Guilty Pleasure

There’s an eerily peculiar feeling that comes with having your life together, and realising you’re not sure when it stopped being fun.

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You wake up early. You stick to your routine. You know what you’re doing most days. Your calendar is full, your mornings are productive, and on paper, everything looks right. But somewhere between entering the corporate world and learning how to schedule joy in advance, your inner child suffers. This is definitely coming from a 21-year-old trying to escape the adulting norms, but I need more whimsy this year, and here's why I think you might need it too.

The year of the Fire Horse
byu/itsallcosmica inAdvancedastrology

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, which loosely translates to freedom, momentum, breaking old patterns, making bold choices, and basically trusting your own instinct over everything else. Culturally, it feels almost too accurate. Because right now, we’re all craving the same thing: being a little out of control. So, we’re calling it time for whimsy.

Goodbye, Structure

For years, I thought structure was comforting. Routines helped survive chaos. Aesthetic policing brought a sense of order. Pilates mornings, matcha rituals, clean schedules, Excel sheets, and a day planned to the T, it all felt grounding. But lately, that same structure feels heavy. Like we’ve rehearsed our lives too many times. Even our “off days” are planned. Even our hobbies need goals and have set timelines. Even rest has rules.

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via GIPHY

The horse doesn’t live by rules. It moves when it feels the pull. It runs, not because it has to, but because it wants to. (trust me, I am speaking from first-hand experience) And maybe that’s why this year feels like a turning point—with AI takeovers, everyone talking about the same thing all the time, we don’t want more systems, we want space. Space to be ourselves and maybe have an original thought every once in a while.

The Year Of Whimsy

Whimsy isn’t just about being dramatic. It’s taking the long way home because you can. It's buying something impractical because it makes you smile. It's starting things with no intention of finishing them. In a way, we’re romanticising being bad at things and enjoying them anyway. 

via GIPHY

Buying a film camera without knowing how exposure works? Yes. Picking up pottery, embroidery or journaling and never becoming exceptional at it? Yes. Collecting trinkets because they spark joy, not because they match your shelf? Yes. Doing things because free will exists? Yes. Analogue Hobbies? YES.

via GIPHY

Gen Z pop culture is already here: Letterboxd diaries that read like emotional breakdowns, Spotify Wrapped personality traits we treat like horoscopes, and Pinterest boards titled things like “life I’m trying to live but probably won’t”. Is it unserious?...or emotionally intelligent?... or deeply relatable?... I have a cuter word for it: whimsical.

Rom-Com Brain Is Back

There’s a reason 13 Going On 30 edits are all over our fyp again. Or why Notting Hill, Love Aaj Kal, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahaani and 10 Things I Hate About You have been the vibe we dig. These films weren’t about optimisation, they were about feeling too much, being spontaneous, dressing with personality, and letting life unfold.

via GIPHY

Fashion is following suit. 2000s rom-com energy, think playful silhouettes, bold colours, accessories worn for drama, personal maximalism at its best. Outfits are allowed to be fun again. You don’t have to look “expensive”. You just have to look like yourself (2016 peaked here). And we are so ready to move on from basic monochrome sets; it's time we add personality to everything we own or buy.

WattPad Fanfic Is The Real G.O.A.T.

The internet's growing obsession with Heated Rivalry makes one thing clear: Wattpad and fan fiction are no longer guilty pleasures; they’re emotional safe spaces, we will collectively discuss on our social media. So hit us with stories written out of zero shame and extreme delusions.

This tracks with the rise of starting Substacks “just to write”, posting long captions again, and treating journalling like therapy instead of content. The Horse energy is instinct-led—it doesn’t edit itself into palatability.

Dilly Dallying

via GIPHY

Perhaps the most telling cultural shift? We’re being chalant again. The Year of the Horse doesn’t allow room for indifference. We’re sending the risky text. Saying yes without pretending we’re casual about it. It's time to dilly dally and do things just for fun, because you can. Nonchalance had its moment, but Gen Z is choosing to be chalant, even if it’s embarrassing. Especially if it’s embarrassing. We are just 20-somethings trying to collect stories to tell, and nonchalance is adding nothing to it

We Are Going Analogue

Whimsy thrives away from screens. In analogue hobbies, messy scrapbooks, disposable cameras, and half-finished notebooks. There’s a reason “offline hobbies” are trending, because constant visibility has drained the joy out of living. So this time, we are literally touching the grass, starting a junk journal, eating 12 different types of pasta, making clothes, pretty much anything that keeps us off our phones. The Horse runs free, but it stays grounded. And so do we, logging off is not to disappear, but to feel something real again.

What are some of your favorite "analog" hobbies or activities
by insimpleliving

We have had enough of rigid plans and curated aesthetics; it's time we all got a little wabi sabi with life. Here's to bringing only fun, spontaneity, uncuratedness, and whimsy to 2026.

Also Read:

Making A Case For Ugly Vision Boards

Is 2026 The New 2016? The Internet Seems To Think So

A Love Letter To Analog Hobbies