reflections redux
I usually start these annual posts about how winter is a season of reflection & intention setting; but this year, it’s been a season of intense rest.
Yes, I am slowing down, prioritizing my favorite mindless activities (comfort fiction reading, re-watching The West Wing) and gentle movement; but I feel wrung out in a way I haven’t in years, a dish rag limp & over-squeezed. Anne Helen Petersen has some theories on why everyone feels especially overwhelmed & out of it this holiday season - lack of monoculture, atrophied rituals, food hurting our tummies - but mostly, we are all out of resilience right now. Maybe that’s why I need an hour nap every day.
So much good happened this year, and there was also grief and struggles, and not a lot of accomplishments. I’m okay with it - really, I am. I read some pithy social media post about how when experience is the goal, you’ll always find success, or something. Which, sure. But I resonated more with something a childhood friend posted: “I’m so lucky, and this is still so hard.”
Despite the solstice bleh, I am making the effort to look back, acknowledging the highs, lows, and 🦬 (buffalos) of 2025. Below are updated reflection prompts for anyone who wants to join me. As always, I encourage making a ritual of it: light a candle, wear something cozy, put on some music, and use your prettiest notebook if you feel like hand-writing.
Here’s to brighter days ahead.
one: review your year
wtf even happened in the last 12 months?! Include your highs, lows, and buffalos. This is where having a highlights album comes in clutch.
🫵 Interior: what happened to me
🌍Exterior: what happened to others & in the world (optional)
two: break it down
Using the following categories, reflect on the past year. Can free write (set a timer for 7+ minutes) or list high/low/buffalo for each.
♥️Home: family, friends, partners, actual living space, community, relationships, pets
🎨 Art & Lifestyle: creative work, hobbies, things that bring you joy/fill your cup
💸 Work & Finances: career, earnings, savings, financial goals, debt
👁️ Body: health, wellness, movement, energy, physical body, aging
🍵 Soul/Spirit: spirituality, healing, inner world, self-care
three: thinking about the past
Use as many or as few of these as you would like.
Last year, my biggest challenge was...
Last year, my biggest accomplishment was/I was most proud of...
The best advice I got last year was…
Songs that defined 2025
I was most surprised by…
I was most grateful for…
Last year taught me that...
After last year, I want to let go of…
Last year, I changed my mind about…
I felt most alive when…
What gave me hope?
What am I celebrating from last year?
What brought me joy this year?
What am I grieving from last year? What felt awful and heavy?
What am I taking from last year?
What am I leaving from last year?
In one sentence, last year was...
In one word, last year was…
four: thinking about the future
In the new year, I long to...
In the new year, a boundary I want to set is...
In the new year, a pattern/habit I don’t want to repeat is...
In the new year, a feeling I want to embody is…
In the new year, I want to let go of…
In the new year, I want to embrace…
In the new year, I want...
An ideal life for me looks like...
To make this life happen, I need...
In one sentence, my intention for the new year:
In one word, my intention for the new year:
good things on the internet
my favorite books I read this year
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt (philosophical & historical non-fiction)
Mad Wife: A Memoir by Kate Hamilton (memoir)
Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson (literary fiction)
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (horror)
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (contemporary fiction)
House by Tracy Kidder (non-fiction)
Educated by Tara Westover (memoir)
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (speculative fiction)
Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood by Lucy Jones (non-fiction + memoir)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (classic fiction)
Stag Dance: A Novel & Stories by Torrey Peters (queer fiction)
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (dark academia fiction)
Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik (non-fiction)
Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm (philosophy)
this week’s jam
I definitely downloaded this on Limewire in high school
photo of my cats
