Letting Go of 2020

We're at the end of the year once again! The past few years I've written posts about letting go of the year. You can read them below:

Letting Go of 2017: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/12/letting-go-of-2017.html

Letting Go of 2018: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/12/letting-go-of-2018.html

Letting Go of 2019 + Starting a New Decade:  https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2019/12/letting-go-of-2019-starting-new-decade.html

 

2020 has been a difficult year for mostly everyone, so it feels appropriate to be writing this post now! I started this post a few days ago and I'm finishing it on New Year's Eve. I usually write mid-year reflection posts as well, so you can see the one from June 2020 here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/06/mid-2020-reflections.html

I've previously written about numerology in these posts. If you follow that, 2020 was a 4, so 2021 will be a 5. It will be about freedom and change. You can read more about it here: https://feliciabender.com/numerology-forecast-for-2021-5-universal-year/

My personal year number for 2020 is an 8, so for 2021 it will be a 9. As I mentioned in last year's post, 8 is about attainment of goals. That hasn't been true for me, and I expect that many people were unable to accomplish their goals this year. 9 is about completion and closure since it's the end of the 9-year cycle, and then you start at 1 again. 

I use the book 21st Century Goddess for information about my personal year number but there are plenty of resources online. In previous posts I've linked to sites where you can find your number, so check out 2018's post and 2019's. Also here is Kari Samuels' site again: https://karisamuels.com/personal-year-numerology/

And Numerology.com gives a prediction of 2021, and also shows you how to calculate your personal year number and how it will affect you in 2021: https://www.numerology.com/articles/numerology-news/2021-numerology-predictions/

 

Reflection

January and February were the last "normal" months, and then the coronavirus that we'd been hearing about in China and other countries spread to the UK. In late March the UK went into lockdown. This lasted into the summer, with rules relaxing slightly. 

In September the "Rule of Six" was introduced, meaning we couldn't gather in groups of more than 6 people. And in October we moved into a tier system in England specifically. (There were slightly different rules for other countries in the UK). The levels were Medium, High and Very High. In Sussex we were on Medium. 

In November we went into lockdown again for around a month, due to rising virus cases. And then we came out on 2nd December and went back into a tier system, but stricter this time. The levels range from 1 to 4. In Sussex we were in Tier 2, but were just moved to Tier 4 on Boxing Day (26th).

I have written updates about two months at a time over on my other blog The Seasonal Life. You can read them up to September/October here (I haven't written the Nov/Dec one yet): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/11/septemberoctober-update.html

In last year's post I wrote that 2019 was an up and down year for me. That was also true of 2020, but with more downs! It was hard on a global scale because of the pandemic and other things, and I also had some personal issues. I felt quite down around the first half of the year, and then the anxiety (health anxiety in particular) kicked in more. 

In the past couple of years I've been going to mental health and wellbeing courses and attending groups at a local mental health resource. I've also been going to Meetup events. But of course, all that stopped this year. I did one or two relaxation classes at the centre and attended one belly dance workshop with Lianna Greene before the first lockdown. And I've only done two Meetup events, one in February (just before lockdown) and one in October. My belly dance classes had finished in Feb due to low attendance, but we were still planning some get-togethers. They didn't go ahead, apart from one socially distanced meetup that I couldn't make. 

On a wider scale, in January Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their decision to step back as senior royals. I was sad to hear the news because I like them both and was pleased to have Meghan as a member of the Royal Family. The fact that she is mixed race and proud to identify as mixed is inspiring to me. But I understand that they have to do what's right for them and their son Archie. :)

In May the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota,  sparked protests across the US and around the world. It also encouraged much needed conversations about racial injustice and inequality. I wrote a bit on this in my Mid-2020 Reflections post.

As a mixed race (black and white) person, it all felt very heavy and got me down. However, I was glad to see things starting to change for the better and the "mainstream" realising the scale of the problem. One positive thing was more content by black bloggers (and people from other backgrounds) being shared. I was glad to see more diverse people's work getting recognition, and I discovered some cool new blogs. :) I know that is only a "small" thing but it felt significant to me. 

And Brexit dragged on, as ever! We were in a transition period, but from tomorrow (1st Jan 2021) new rules come into effect. Hopefully everything will work out for the best.

Blogging wise I continued my Feeling Your Emotions series here on Falling Petals with Happiness- Part 1 and Happiness- Part 2. I also wrote several "stand alone" posts (not part of the FYE series but related to emotions), on the subjects of feeling lonely, feeling low and feeling more positive. I also wrote a new post about the Law of Attraction, looking at it more in depth. It's called Law of Attraction (LOA) 2.0.

I also blogged regularly on my entertainment blog Star Sparkle Blog and my seasonal living blog The Seasonal Life. As mentioned before, I wrote updates covering two months at a time on TSL. 

Releasing

Releasing the year feels very appropriate right now! Check out my past posts for info about releasing your year. You can find them linked at the top of this post, or here, here and here.

This is a good post from Vogue with ideas for letting go of 2020 and honouring the new year. It features several people from different backgrounds and fields of work, including astrology, yoga, energy healing and meditation: https://www.vogue.com/article/how-to-let-go-and-honor-the-new-year

I may just do some journalling myself, looking back on the year. Writing these posts help me to release things too. You could also write a reflection post or in your diary/journal if you feel like it. :)

Resolutions/Intentions/Goals

I've also covered this subject in past letting go posts, see Letting Go of 2017 and Letting Go of 2018. And I've previously written about choosing a Word of the Year. I chose "Connection" for 2017, "Love" for 2018 and two words, "Magic" and "Miracles" for 2019. I didn't end up choosing one for 2020, since I felt that my 2019 words didn't really work for me. I'm not sure if I will choose a word for 2021, I'll see what I feel like.  

If you feel called to choose one, here is a good post from Dominee of Blessing Manifesting about it: https://www.blessingmanifesting.com/2017/12/choose-word-of-the-year.html/

And here is a post about Dominee's Word for 2021: https://www.blessingmanifesting.com/my-word-of-the-year-for-2021/

I feel kind of tired right now and not inspired to set any new year's resolutions, intentions or goals. (For the difference between them, see the 2017 post). But you can really do it any time, so if you feel the same way, it's fine if you don't want to set any right now (or at all!). :) 

I do like these self-care resolutions (also from Blessing Manifesting) though: https://www.blessingmanifesting.com/4-self-care-new-years-resolutions/

 They feel more "do-able".

If you do feel inspired to set intentions, check out this post from Juliette Kristine: https://www.juliettekristine.com/blog/how-to-set-powerful-intentions

Hope this post gave you some ideas for reflecting on and releasing the year, and looking ahead to 2021. It feels strange to look back on last year's post where I wrote about starting a new decade. Not many of us would have thought we'd start it with a pandemic! 

Hope everyone is doing ok, and you had a good Christmas or any other festival if you celebrated. Thank you for reading this and wishing that 2021 is better for everyone. :)

How was 2020 for you? Happy New Year! :)  

Photo: Buckingham Park, Shoreham-by-sea. Moonsparkle 2020.