Closing out the old year and welcoming the new

'She Finds Reasons To Celebrate'
24"H x 12"W

The following is a bit from my latest newsletter where I take you with me through a ritual I do to close out the old year and welcome in the new (Let's Close out 2022 today, and Welcome in 2023 tomorrow!). Let me know if you decide to grab your pen and paper and play along:

Are you like me? Do you tingle with anticipation on the first day of the year? It’s like opening the cover of a new book, with a beautiful story just waiting to be devoured, or reaching for a new canvas shimmering with possibility.

I know – it’s just a day that we arbitrarily assign with a new number. But still, it IS a new number and there’s a lot of power in that. We get to mentally close the book that was 2022 and reflect, celebrate accomplishments and milestones, release heartaches and pain, and say goodby before we grab a new canvas and write a new story.

And so on this first day of the year, I’d like to take you with me on my little ritual of closing out the old year and setting myself up for success in the new. Would you like to join me? Grab a pen and paper and let’s dive in!

Photo credit: Diane Ahern Photography

*Close out 2022*

Look back on the past year and make 2 separate lists on 2 different pieces of paper (the reason for this will become apparent in a minute)

Sheet 1 - Reasons to Celebrate

List out all of the things you can think of that brought you joy and made you feel successful in big and small ways. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Projects I accomplished
- Small things I’m proud of
- Wonderful things happened to me
- Wonderful things that happened because of me
- People I uplifted
- People that came into my life / became a special part of my life
- Beauty I sent out into the world
- Beauty the world sent to me
- Things I created that brought me joy
- Things I created that brought others joy
- Things other people created that brought me joy
- Anything else about 2022 that makes me feel good

Set your Reasons to Celebrate sheet where you can see it and each day this week!

• Read your accomplishments

• Celebrate the beauty you let into your life

• Allow yourself to smile

• Pump your fist in the air

• Raise your arms

• Yell: ‘I DID THIS!’

You deserve to celebrate all of the beauty that’s in this world because of you!

Sheet 2 - Baggage to Release

The next sheet is just as important as the first, because us creatives can hold onto heartache. We ruminate. We beat ourselves up over and over again for our real and perceived failings. We take things personally. It’s so important to let it all go and, for me, it’s best to not just do this mentally, but also physically.

On your second sheet of paper write out the stuff that dragged you down last year such as:
- Icky things happened to me
- Stressful situations still holding me down / causing pain
- Stuff I’m ruminating about
- Injuries
- Illnesses
- Mistakes
- Things I promised but didn’t deliver (and I feel guilty about)
- Things I said that I wish I could take back
- Things I didn't say but wish I could go back and say
- Things other people said that hurt
- Things that bug me about my neighbor or the guy on the freeway or the woman in line at the post office or...
- Situations when I felt left out, invisible, forgotten
- Situations when I felt overwhelmed and snapped
- Anything else about 2022 that makes me feel bad

Once you’ve written it down, you’ve taken the first step in releasing it from your body. Now, resist the urge to read it ever again. It’s done and it’s time to let it go. Now, here’s the best bit – Let’s Burn It Up!

Yes, there are times I have literally burned my Baggage to Release paper on a little bonfire at the beach – and if you haven’t done it before, it’s really liberating.

Now-a-days, however, I prefer to compost the icky stuff – I literally stick my sheet of paper deep into the compost pile (sometimes I tear it up into tiny pieces first)! It feels fresh and rejuvenating: to take what was painful and send it back into the earth, let the earthworms and bacteria do their thing until what was sorrow and pain, is now fertile soil for new seeds of possibility.

I'd love to hear if you 1. made it this far in this very long post and 2. if you decide to write your lists

... stay tuned for tomorrow 'Welcome in 2023'

Happy New Year!

Art and Words by @BeverlyAshGilbert