I blinked and then it was almost 2023 - anyone else feel this way? Jeeze the past year as been super confronting for me. I have learned SO many hard lessons and I don’t think any of us could have expected that the past few years would propel us into this weird new world, it’s been a challenge all right but in and amongst the chaos, there has also been many pockets of joy. Ever the optimist I like to focus on those pockets of joy, I love finding the rose amongst the thorns and I think this comes from spending a large part of my late teens and early twenties struggling with depression and anxiety. One of the tools that helped me clamber out of darker days was practising gratitude and reflection. I call myself an optimist but I wasn’t always like that, in fact, I actually have a natural instinct to catastrophise and focus on the negative and it’s on reflection that I realise how impactful cementing those pockets of joy in my mind (or journal) no matter how tiny, has become. 

In an effort to round up this weird and wonderful year I’d love to invite you to reflect, manifest and practice a little gratitude for the joy and the lessons as we wade our way through the last week of a particularly sticky year. 

So grab a journal, a nice cosy space, blankets, lovely smells, and your fave things, light a nice candle and let’s dive deep: 

1. Look back over the past year, what has shifted for you and what have you let go of since the last new year? 

2. Pick out 5 pockets of joy that you have experienced this year - a pocket of joy can be anything from 3 minutes of sun on your face to achieving a lifelong goal! 

3. What has been coming up for you over the past couple of weeks as we approach the end of the year? What emotions have you been experiencing and what have they been showing you?

4. How would you like your life to be this time next year? What would be different and how? (don’t limit yourself!) 

5. What do you not want to repeat from last year and what steps can you take to help achieve this? 

6. What are your career, financial and relationship intentions for the year ahead? 

7. What areas of your life need some work so that you can follow your dreams? 

8. Make a daily, weekly and monthly action plan to help you work toward your intentions, what steps do you need to be taking to be where you want to be in a years time? 

I hope this has been a useful practice for you, make sure you keep it somewhere safe and look back on it next year, it’s not about “success” or “failure” it’s about recognising what you really want and working toward it, that might change in a few months, it might not but what you will have is a powerful reflection next year where you can take another step closer to understanding, loving a nurturing your wonderful self and building the life you want, not the one this wild capitalist world tells you that you need! 

Peace and love sweet humans, check in with me next week for some guidance on 2023!