A few weeks ago, Type hosted a small New Year’s gathering in Atlanta at a local coffee shop, Bloom Coffee Co. We invited all of our Atlanta customers and friends to join us for a morning of good coffee (and matcha), pastries, and some very low-stakes New Year’s activities. More specifically: we were making New Year Bingo cards (link here if you want to print your own) and people got to make little charms for their Type A bags.
The point of the event was partly to host something in my hometown of Atlanta and partly to launch two new colors: a matcha green and an off-white Type A bag. The event was a success, and it was a lot of fun getting to meet new people from the area as they took a break on a Saturday morning to sit down and focus on their intentions for the year.
We recently posted a little recap of what people said their intentions were, and you can watch that here. Now that it’s been a few weeks since the chaos of planning, executing, and post-morteming another Type event, I’ve been thinking about my own intentions for the rest of 2026 and decided to put them down here.
I hope if you’re reading this you’ll also take a minute and revisit—or create—your intentions for the rest of the year. And before you email me “Abid, it’s almost March! It’s too late for intentions!” I want to remind you that most doctors don’t finish their medical training until well into their thirties, so it’s never too late to do anything.
So without further ado, here are my intentions:
1. Make more room for small, local things
Hosting events for Type always reminds me that most of the good stuff in life happens in small rooms, not online.
At Bloom, nothing “huge” happened. No one solved American healthcare. People just:
-
showed up in their scrubs, or weekend sweaters
-
sat at a table with strangers
-
made bingo cards about what they actually want this year (sleep, better boundaries, less doomscrolling, more PTO)
-
threaded tiny charms onto their bags and talked about call schedules, commutes, and what they’re reading
That’s it. And it felt nice.
My intention: More small, in-person things. It doesn’t always have to be a full production or a big “activation.” I want to host more gatherings that feel like this: one good coffee shop, a simple activity, and the chance for people to feel like they’re not the only ones trying to figure it out.
2. Find and Support More Independent Artists
One of the cool things about working on Type is being able to meet and work with lots of independent artists. At this event, we worked with local Atlanta artist Martha Trethewey who was able to paint on the bags for guests. You could dream up whatever you wanted and Martha would paint it on the bag.
My intention: Seek out more art. This will probably be in the form of visiting museums and galleries. I recently downloaded the Showrunner app to show me where I can find art stuff around the city, but I also plan to finally visit the Studio Museum in Harlem. I’ll report back with what / who I find.
3. Shop Less Online
I’m a little tired of screens. I’ve found myself actively trying to avoid shopping online for a number of reasons, but mostly because I think running to the store is a good excuse to leave the apartment, and it forces me to interact with other people along the way. Living in a big city can feel weirdly isolating, especially if you don’t force yourself to go out and be social.
My intention: When I can, buy things in person. Let errands double as walks and accidental human contact, instead of another UPS box showing up at my door that I will put off breaking down for days.
All that being said, this year I realized setting my intentions for the new year isn’t a one-night-only thing. It’s more like what we did at Bloom: you show up, you make a small decision about how you want your life to feel, and then you try again the next weekend… and the one after that.
So if you’ve been feeling behind on your “new year,” consider this your sign to start now. Fill out the bingo card, shop local instead of hitting “add to cart,” or just write one sentence about what you want the rest of 2026 to feel like in your notes app. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.
Until next time,
Abid
