My End of Year Ritual & How I Wrap Up My Year

As 2023 approaches, I feel a tug, a desire, to reflect back on the past year. To say this year was intense and full of change for me would be a massive understatement. Some years are just like that—so full that it seems like January was years ago, not just months.

I think there is such value in reflecting, but it can also be overwhelming. There’s this feeling of “where do I even begin to unpack what happened”, when I sit down to do exactly that. However, I feel like reflecting back helps me to process, not only the past, but also helps me navigate the present and the future. There are a few ways I do this:

1. Journaling with a timeline
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2. Using cards to help me see the bigger picture
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3. Diving into my 2022 Word of the Year

These three things help me to focus and get curious. If I just sit down and start writing, nothing is organized and it flows out in a way that isn’t particularly helpful for processing. I’ve listed them as three separate things, but in reality I use them all together letting my intuition guide the way. 

I start with the timeline first though because I usually forget what the year actually contained. It’s super simple—just a line with dashes for each month. It’s not fancy at all. I then fill in the big things that come right to mind that happened for each month. I also use my planner to remind me of what happened because let’s be honest—I forget a lot these days. 2022’s timeline ended up organizing itself with highlights on top and lowlights on the bottom of the timeline. It wasn’t planned that way—it just happened.

After I’ve done my timeline, I’ll grab my cards and journal and start unpacking. I look for the events that I haven’t had time to process or unpack first. I write about what emotions come up, thoughts that enter about them, etc. If I get stuck, I grab a deck of my favorite cards and use them as a guide to go deeper. Some years this takes hours and other years it takes a few weeks. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.

After my timeline reflection is done, I turn to my word for the past year (2022 Word of the Year) and start exploring how that unfolded for me. 

‍(Note: What’s a word of the year? It’s an intention setting I do every January, where I pick one word to act as my guiding light—my north star—for the year. There’s a process I do to select my word and I’ve created a guided live experience to help you do the same. It’s turned into a bit of an oracle for me honestly. Click here for more info.) 

Typically, I’ve worked with this word all year, so some of this reflection is just going back through journal entries and re-reading things. However, I do like to see the arc of how it unfolded and to give it time and space to make sure nothing else is rising up to be seen or processed with it.

After my word of the year reflection, I start playing with ideas for my new word of the year. I take my time and don’t rush it. And that’s the ritual I do at the end of every year.  I would love to hear what you do to wrap up 2022. Click here to send me an email and let me know!