A year ago, I wrote on Instagram:
“A tiny slip of paper pulled out of a fortune cookie won't make my dreams come true. Only I can do that. The new year isn't a magic turning point. And still it coincides with a time of change and transition…”
Here we are again on the cusp of a new year. There’s nothing inherently change-provoking about the new year. And yet it symbolizes for us, who mark this human-made calendar, a turning point.
It can be a good time to pause, reflect, and renew. Since I have a daily journaling practice, I reflect often in writing. However, reflection can happen in many ways - on a solitary walk, in conversation with a trusted partner or friend, in daydreams, in perusing photographs from throughout the year, and so on.
We can use questions or prompts to guide our reflection. Some ideas…
What did I learn in 2023?
What were the highlights?
What was challenging or difficult?
Which attitudes and habits do I want to take into the new year?
Which do I want to leave behind?
What new thing(s) do I want to learn or experience in 2024?
Did I spend time aligned with my values this past year?
How can I be more aligned in the new year?
(Here’s a list I’ve found helpful for guiding some of the questions: Core Values List.)
If you have a regular year-end or new-year reflection or ritual or other practice, please share in the comments.
***
I’m also looking back on my writing in 2023. My first Substack newsletter was published in April, so I’ve been here for eight months. Mostly weekly and sometime less. This morning I reread some of my posts. I found glimmers. And mistakes. I’m proud of what I’ve written here. And it was nice to reread the comments too. I love the dialogue!
I haven’t yet fully explored the various features on Substack, which include notes, videos, podcasts, and more. There are even metrics. I see a list of “top” in my posts, which I suppose are the ones that were opened the most. According to that, the following were my top five posts of 2023. I’m including a quote from each.
Inventory: a long & winding road
It feels like time, or perhaps just change, accelerates as we get older. I’ve been through a lot. You have too. Take stock. Pat yourself on the back. We survived. We grieved. We celebrated. We struggled. We changed. We grew.
On grief: a poem from the archives
I think the most important aspect of grief is being seen and named. It doesn’t do any good to pretend our losses aren’t real and painful. We feel comfort not from stale platitudes but from people who acknowledge and accompany us in our grief. Likewise we offer comfort when we see and be with others in theirs.
Joy and pain: interconnectedness on the journey
Dusk. A hazy moon. Watching the paddle skim the black shadows on the dark river, I felt a deep interconnection to everything around me.
Seen and unseen: unedited and imperfect
what is still unseen?
what magic remains?
what memories
are hidden in the
fullness of our bodies?
so much of beauty,
strength, power,
so much of life
ambles, bursts,
emerges, slides out.
or it’s embedded in us
unseen but known
deep in our bones.
Why bother: flowers and weeds, roses and thorns
I’m just feeling the feelings and writing about them. I hope you’re feeling your feelings too. It’s through feeling them, and acknowledging them, that we can move on. All are valid. The roses and the thorns.
***
It’s fun to see which posts were opened the most. That doesn’t mean they were necessarily read, or that I consider them my “best.” I have my own favorites, I suppose. Besides the poem “Seen and unseen,” which made the list above, another poem “Metamorphosis” is very close to my heart. And I have to mention the ode I wrote in honor of my birthday, “This is 55,” as another favorite.
Regardless of “tops” and “favorites,” I’m so glad that you’re here. Thanks for reading, for commenting, for sharing! I appreciate YOU.
Happy New Year!
Gratefully,
Mary
Happy 2024!
My favorite part of this post is the top 5 sub stacks posts and the excerpt from each of them. I love a trip down memory lane. I also love looking at photos. My friend Gary often reminds me of when I kept a basket full of photos on the end table in my living room. I would spend time just flipping through them. He said I watched photos the way others watch TV.
My rituals and routines are about letting things go and calling things in. I do this frequently - with the moon (at the full moon) and with the seasons (equinoxes and solstices.) I'm almost always calling in more nature, more time outside. Right now I'm calling in more in person connecting and more conversation with thoughtful, intelligent women - a combination of the two would be ideal! :-)
I visited the core value list that you had linked. ( Kirk and I had done a similar exercise before Kacie was born, thinking about our joint core values that we wanted to instill in her. I'm sure we wrote it down and have it in a file folder somewhere!) It was easy for me to quickly identify kindness, love, peace, and community. If I picked a 5th it might be beauty, compassion, or humor.
So lovely to have this space to reflect with you! Thanks for writing!