By: Gabriela Yareliz
Words I have heard often tied to 2026: “subtraction”, “restraint”, “frugal”— it’s everywhere. Open a Substack, and play a game of bingo for every time one of these words pops up. #trending Allegedly, we need less so we can run with the horse (year of the horse)— whatever the hell that means.
Apparently, we do math every year— multiplication, division, addition— this year is allegedly about subtraction. But why? Who decides this equation? I swear, it’s like those horoscopes written by someone wearing one too many bracelets in a basement.
Individuals need to decide what equation is needed and how to use their energy. We are in different grade levels working out of different workbooks.
Speaking of energy…
I saw a perfect Nike footprint on a train door window. That naturally means someone side-kicked that door window like a ninja facing train delays when the doors closed. Can you imagine the rage? I know the rage. I am not sure why that drew in my attention. It was a perfect footprint, and you could read the word “Nike” and the logo perfectly on the dusty glass. That person was doing division.
Energy. In this rowdy delayed train car (smoke in the tunnels), I have a power strip in my bag. The reason I have it is because there is this place where I have to spend hours working, and there are only one to two outlets and six of us. We all end up needing energy for these old Dell laptops that die just by us looking at them. Energy. We gonna be multiplying.
People use energy to make so many rules and impose more. Even imposing subtraction is more, in some cases. So block out the noise like we did with dividers when taking a test in the 90s.
A plan to thrive uniquely is better than a set of instructions without clear purpose. Rather than using your energy to torture yourself or beat yourself into submission with whatever someone else decides is their word or vibe of the year, conserve your energy. Use it wisely.
Pick the equation you need.
Addition=Slow and steady build.
Subtraction=Slow simplification with intention.
Division=A massive deconstruction to clear the way.
Multiplication=An escalation with speed.
Also remember that with some equations, if you use 1 or 0, nothing changes. You do the math.
Do we really need less to run with the horse or whatever? Isn’t the horse strong enough to drag us along at whatever speed is needed with whatever we need for the journey? If not, the horse is not worth riding, quite frankly.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 