December is a slowdown for a lot of people. A cosy time of year where you slip into a long hibernation until the snow melts. For us, it isn’t a slowdown; it’s a pivot.
The noise drops off, the inbox lightens, and you can finally hear yourself think. It’s the perfect time to plan, to line things up, to make a little bit of quiet feel like fuel.
We’ve got a lot coming — new stories, new contributor pieces and collaborations, new ways to get involved. Things that have been simmering all year are finally ready to surface. It feels less like starting over and more like building out — same foundation, stronger framework. We’re still finding our footing, but we know exactly where we’re going.
After months of testing what works, December is for clarity. For sharpening tools, saying yes to the ideas that stuck, and letting go of the ones that didn’t. It’s the best kind of creative housekeeping — equal parts ambition and realism.
There’s something satisfying about this time of year — not the clichés of reflection or resolution, but the sense of being right in the middle of something alive. You can feel the hinge between what’s been and what’s next. It’s the rare moment where planning feels like action. In work, as in life.
Behind the scenes, we’re sketching, scheduling, and connecting dots that will matter in January. Some projects will launch loud; others will just quietly exist until someone needs them. Both feel like wins. The work is expanding, but the intention stays tight.
The best part of She Zine right now is that it’s more than any one project or person. It’s turning into an ecosystem — articles, shops, podcasts, collabs — all orbiting around the same idea: that creativity is a form of participation. You don’t just watch it; you add to it.
We’re heading into the new year with energy — not the kind you fake, but the grounded kind that grows from focus. This isn’t a pause; it’s a pulse check. Everything’s still beating, and it’s about to get louder.
So no resolutions, no grand declarations. Just good work, good people, and a sense that we’ve only started to scratch the surface. December is for building quietly, and 2026? That’s when we make some noise.
—AXO
#newgirlarmy
shezinemag.com
AXO (she/her) is a multidisciplinary creator, editor, and builder of feminist media ecosystems based in Toronto. She is the founder of She Zine Mag, Side Project Distro, BBLGM Club, and several other projects under the AXO&Co umbrella — each rooted in DIY culture, creative rebellion, and community care. Her work explores the intersection of craft, technology, and consciousness, with an emphasis on handmade ethics, neurodivergent creativity, and the politics of making. She is an advocate for accessible creativity and the power of small-scale cultural production to spark social change. Her practice merges punk, print, and digital media while refusing to separate the emotional from the practical. Above all, her work invites others to build creative lives that are thoughtful, defiant, and deeply handmade.
