We're at the end of 2017. Christmas and the end of the year always seem to come round quickly to me! It doesn't seem that long since I wrote my Reflections post but it was 7 months ago. Now that it's the last day of the year I thought it would be helpful to reflect on how 2017 has been and release it. (I started writing this a few days ago but it's now New Year's Eve!).
Note: This is assuming you're following the Western yearly calendar. I know other cultures have different calendars (such as the Chinese one), and I also follow the Wheel of the Year and with that New Year was Samhain (around Hallowe'en), so I also did some reflection then. You could just do your own reflecting and releasing whenever feels best to you. :)
While I love Christmas, I don't like New Year so much. I've never done as much for that. And I find the time after New Year depressing because all the excitement is over and we've still got most of winter and cold weather to go. I tend to take a while to "settle in" and adjust to the new year. But I think that rather than pushing myself to be different, I should just try to accept how I am and go gently. So if you're not in a really happy, positive mood either, don't be hard on yourself. :)
2018 is a universal 11/2 year in numerology. 2017 was a "1" year which was about new beginnings and 2018 is supposed to be about lessons/insights, love and relationships. 11 is a "master number". I don't follow numerology really closely but I find it interesting to read about the universal year and my personal year number. (I've forgotten what my new one for 2018 will be, I'll check later).
You can read more here: https://consciouslifenews.com/2018-numerology-forecast-112-universal-year-lesson-taughtlessons-learned/11146485/#
And sign-up for a free energy attunement here (done remotely): https://whispersfromthesoul.com/free-event-new-years-energy-attunement-2017-2018/
Reflection
It's been a weird and unsettling year on some levels, with all the instability, racism and violence in the world and the constant news stories on it all. Things have been unsettled both here in the UK and in America since the UK voted for Brexit and Donald Trump was elected as President in the US last year. And there have been the terrorist attacks in the UK, elsewhere in Europe and America. The biggest ones here were the London Bridge and the Ariana Grande Manchester Arena concert attacks. There was also the Grenfell Tower fire in London in June and the recent California wildfires.
There has been some more positive news with the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in November. It's good to hear about a love story and I also find it nice because Meghan is mixed race like me and she's around my age (so maybe it's not too late for me to find the love of my life!).
My personal year started off badly with my girl cat dying. :( Also my health anxiety (HA) has been up and down, it was worse during the summer. I've felt a lot of stress and anxiety during 2017. On the other hand I had a good summer in some ways, going to the beach, the countryside, the pub and Brighton Marina.
This year I started a new post series called Design Your Universe, based on the Law of Attraction (LOA). I also did another post in my series The Love Project, on romantic relationships and anxiety.
I started a new series on Feeling Your Emotions which I plan to expand on in 2018. And I've been active on my other blogs Star Sparkle Blog (entertainment) and The Seasonal Life (seasonal living and Wiccan/pagan sabbats).
Some positive things- I took part in Amina Makhdoom's Joy Challenge in April which was a lot of fun and I had a story published in June. I made some positive online connections. I also went to a few belly dance workshops and other events. There were some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. (I mainly saw the sunsets since I'm more of an evening person!).
If you'd like to do your own reflections and/or review your year, here are a few links:
https://personalexcellence.co/blog/year-end-review/
(This is from 2014 but you can apply it to to this year too, or any year): https://anuschkarees.com/blog/2014/12/16/your-year-in-review-50-questions-to-help-you-reflect-appreciate-and-get-excited-for-2015 (Redirects to a workbook)
http://notesonbliss.com/your-year-in-review/
I especially like No. 1, What can I think the Universe for? in the Notes on Bliss post. I'm going to write a gratitude list for 2017.If you'd like to do one too you can write it how Elyse suggests, for example, "Thank you Universe for my great friends, new job, summer picnics and beautiful sunsets" etc., you can just list it which is what I'm going to do, or whichever way you like! :)
Releasing
Just writing down how your year has been may be enough to let go of it for you. I believe that "writing it out" really helps. However you may prefer to do a more formal ceremony. I follow some Wiccan principles, so any ceremonies I make up tend to be influenced by them, but you can design your own ceremony however you like. :) You can base it on Wiccan, Druid, shaman (Native American, African etc.) or any other techniques you like. I'll try out some of the ideas in the post below.
I just saw this post on Blessing Manifesting which gives you some good magical ways to let go of the year: https://www.selfloverainbow.com/2017/12/magical-ways-let-go-2016.html
Update 5/1/23: Blessing Manifesting is now Self-Love Rainbow, so I've updated the link.
Tess Whitehurst has a New Year blessing ritual you can do: https://tesswhitehurst.com/simple-new-year-blessing-ritual/
I may try some of these things out, I'll see how I feel.
Also here are a couple of Sarah Prout posts on letting go:
https://sarahprout.com/letting-go-of-the-past
https://sarahprout.com/15-things-to-give-up-new-year
Resolutions, Goals and Intentions
The start of a new year is the time for New Year's resolutions. I'm not so keen on these, or setting them myself because if I don't achieve them then I feel that I've "failed". So I'd rather not put too much pressure on myself. But if you enjoy setting resolutions/goals and they work for you then that's great. :) I think for me I'm going to take it slowly and maybe set some loose goals. I have set them in the past and I have a Life Life (aka Bucket List). If you don't feel like setting new goals then now might be a good time to review your current ones and decide if you'd like to keep them, let any go or add new ones.
You could also set intentions. I think these are slightly different because they seem to be less concrete; you can set them for how you'd like to feel, e.g. "I intend to feel happy and peaceful during 2018" and "I intend to draw abundance into my life". They tend to be used in Law of Attraction circles. A goal might be worded in a different way such as, "To make £5,000 extra a year". Here are a couple of links on the difference between goals and intentions:
https://yogisurprise.com/intention-vs-goals/
https://christieinge.com/difference-between-values-intentions-goals/
If you want to make some resolutions, goals and/or intentions then check out these links:
https://sarahprout.com/2014/12/manifesting-miracles-how-to-rock-goals-dreams-wishes-and-desires-in-5-easy-steps/
https://sarahprout.com/7-steps-to-setting-powerful-intentions
https://personalexcellence.co/blog/making-resolutions/
http://notesonbliss.com/10-ways-to-achieve-your-goals/
I did a list for Goals, Dreams, Wishes and Desires on New Year's Eve 2013 (inspired by a Sarah Prout article similar to the first one I've linked to) but I didn't manifest much off it. I may do some form of this but as I said above, I'm not going to make it too much of a pressured thing.
Word of the Year
You also may have heard about choosing a "word of the year" which is where you pick a word to be your theme for the upcoming year. Some examples are "Love", "Rest", "Play" and "Joy". You may prefer this to setting resolutions or intentions but it's also good to do in addition to those. I did this at the beginning of 2017 and my word was "Connection". I think it did work because I made some lovely connections online (as I mentioned in the Reflections section above). I'm going to do it for 2018 but I'm not sure yet what my word will be. If you'd like some help with finding your word, Susannah Conway has a free email course which you can access here: http://www.susannahconway.com/word/
I'll have a go thinking of my own but if I get stuck it will be helpful. (Presumably it will stay open for a little while).
Susannah has a free workbook called Unravel Your Year as well, which I've just downloaded. Find that here: http://www.susannahconway.com/unravel/
You might also enjoy those other posts on choosing a word:
https://www.elizabethrider.com/word-of-the-year/
https://www.selfloverainbow.com/how-to-choose-your-word-of-the-year-100-suggestions (Formerly Blessing Manifesting)
Finally here are a few more posts for the New Year:
https://conniechapman.com/powerfully-prepare-new-year/
https://tesswhitehurst.com/7-magical-ways-to-make-this-your-best-year-yet/ (Redirects to another New Year post)
https://positiveprovocations.com/2017/12/20/8-positively-simple-rules-for-a-happier-2018/
http://notesonbliss.com/15-truths-about-life-guide-inspire/
I included the Notes on Bliss one because it's good to have some inspiration for going into 2018. I especially think that No. 6. (Transformation is a process) is a helpful one to remember.
Update 10/1/18: Here are a few more posts I came across about reflecting on your year and then setting new goals/resolutions (they're from 2016/17 but you can apply the information to 2017/18 or whenever you read them):
https://stronginsideout.com/the-step-before-making-new-years-resolutions/
https://stronginsideout.com/loving-new-years-resolutions/
http://www.livingbeautifully.com/end-of-year-review/
http://www.livingbeautifully.com/how-to-plan-your-year/
Hope you had a good Christmas or other festival if you celebrated, and that this post helped you in some way. :) Do you have any traditions for releasing one year and welcoming another? Happy New Year! :)
Photo: Hove Park. Copyright Moonsparkle 2017.
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