I’m writing these practices to let go of 2020 and to prepare for 2021, but they’re just as good for every other year.
You see, “change” and “newness” doesn’t just happen; we have to work at it.
And wishing for new things is a practice, one we keep coming back to again and again. We don’t wish just to “get what we want”. We wish so we can gain clarity over what it is that we want, invoke receptivity, prepare ourselves for what may come.
Without further ado, here are some stellar practices for journaling on the New Year.
What do I give thanks for
- All the learning we learned, even it it was painful
- All the things that did work out, in spite of the difficult circumstances
- Safety and always having support
- Reconnecting with nature and learning more about Shamanism
- Friendship and all the people who showed love and care
- Support coming in for my website/project/business, yay!
What do I want to let go of?
- The fear of being unloved. The fear that I’ll never be loved.
- All the sense of unworthiness, the inadequacy, the “not fit to be alive” stuff.
- Endless comparing with people who are “doing better than me”.
- Procrastinating on what matters most to me
- Not standing up for myself. Not saying what is true for me, letting that scream die out in my throat. No more.
- Body stuff. The sense that my body is somehow “wrong”.
- Projecting “excellence” or “godliness” onto other people.
What am I inviting in?
Because talking about “things I want” (commonly known as “resolutions”) is too difficult for me, I’m going to focus on Qualities.
- Clarity & Insight & Discernment
- Love & Closeness
- Focus & Discipline & Accountability
What is my “Quest”? Or my “Question”?
- How do I get closer to myself? How do I really get to know how I work, how I am, how I DO? How do I get to know my process?
What word / phrase do I want for the new year?
My word for this year 2020 was “Enchantment”, from the root “Enchant” or “Encantar” in Spanish, which means “into singing”.
This year had more Dis-enchantment, to be sure. I found myself dis-enchanted with people I previously admired, people I believed to be wise and knowledgeable.
On the surface, this sounds terrible, right? But there’s a very real upside to to dis-enchantment: the end of my projecting qualities onto other people.
I learn and re-learn this lesson: those I believe to be “better” aren’t necessarily so, they don’t know more than me, they are just more confident, or wealthier, or use convoluted language. It’s so easy to fall into projections, especially when you struggle with confidence. But I’m learning, to value what I know, and sometimes to do that I have to see those I compare myself to under a different light.
My word for next year is “Power”. I read that it comes from the Latin “podere”, which in Spanish means “can”, as in “I can do this”.
Here are some other questions to ponder and explore:
The Hard Stuff, The Good Stuff, What would I do differently
What do I want to forget? What do I want to remember?
What do I want to forget? What do I want to remember?
