Welcome to the first New Moon Workshop for creative wellbeing. Every weekend following a new moon (or as close to the new moon as possible), I offer you some exercises and activities to support your emotional health, self-knowing and self-expression through creativity.
As time goes on, I’m going to experiment with bringing in video, audio and imagery, as well as creating interactive elements and ways that we can share and discuss what we’re working through in these sessions. If enough paid subscribers join us, I’ll offer live sessions for paid subscribers, and paid members will also get additional resources and more in-depth content. You can become a paid member here, if that sounds up your street:
For now, though, let’s dive into this month’s session, where we’re going to take time to reflect on the year that’s just completed and say a proper goodbye before we throw ourselves into the new one.
There’s a lot of pressure, when January comes around, to launch ourselves into a fresh year with a bang. There’s a whole industry that’s developed around driving us to make life changes and big promises. We’re asked for our visions and plans, with everything centred on the blank page of the new calendar. But don’t forget that January 1st as the start of the calendar year is a relatively new construct itself. The Gregorian calendar was only created in 1582, and much of the world didn’t adopt it until at least the 18th century (in the UK, it came into usage in 1752). Our pagan ancestors would have been guided by the seasons, not a calendar, and so this period, in the depths of winter, would have been one for rest and reflection, not action.
We’re not ready to charge off into new territory just yet. It’s dark, it’s cold, our bodies and our minds need to slow down. That’s hard to do in our modern world, but we can do what we can to lessen the pressure at this time. And, before we move onto anything new, we need to say goodbye to what’s gone. We rush into the new so quickly that we don’t give ourselves closure on the old. We need to process, reflect, understand - how else can we move forward, if we don’t take in the learnings and the guidance that’s been given to us so far? So today I invite you to hold back on building your big vision for 2024 just yet, and take a moment to listen to what 2023 had to tell you, to let go of the year that’s been, and shape the story that you’ll take from it into the future.
Guided meditation: bird’s-eye view
For this meditation, I invite you to settle yourself somewhere comfortable where you won’t be disturbed. You might find it helpful to light a candle that you can watch as we begin, but that is entirely optional.
Mountains and valleys
Every year has its ups and downs, and whether your overall feelings towards 2023 are largely negative or mostly positive, there will have been a mixture of experiences that all need to be acknowledged and processed so that you can move forward.
Take a piece of paper (or use the template below) and draw your year as a series of mountains and valleys - the mountains represent the positive moments, the time when everything felt on the up, whereas the valleys represent the times where you felt low or where you were going through challenges. You might want to think about the year month by month to remember what experiences you were going through and how you felt at the time, or, if there were less clearly defined “up” and “down” periods, you could group events from different times together within mountains and valleys. There is no right or wrong way to do this.
Now, on each mountain, list the positive events, experiences and emotions of the time period that this space represents to you. You might want to write a little about each one, or you might want to draw images to express what took place and how you feel about that time. In the valleys, do the same for the more challenging times and experiences.
You can add photos, mementos, drawings, poems or anything else that expresses your feelings or captures key memories about those times to the relevant mountains and valleys if you wish.
Now look back over everything you experienced in 2023. Think about what you have taken away from the last year, what lessons you’ve gained, and what you can take forward with you and what you’d prefer to leave behind. Take a moment to say thanks to the universe for the gifts of that year, and to yourself for everything you’ve achieved and overcome in that time.
Nothing left unsaid
Before we leave 2023 behind, we want to be sure that there’s nothing left unsaid - no resentments or frustrations festering in our hearts.
Think of any people or experiences that have challenged you in the year gone by, and any difficult feelings that you are struggling to let go of. Write a letter to that person/those people, or to yourself, or to 2023 as a whole. Get everything off your chest. Open up about how you have felt, how you have been affected, what you wish had gone differently, what you would like to change… anything that is still bothering you or playing on your mind. Let it all flow out onto the page.
When you have finished, when you’re confident that you’ve said everything there is to say, burn the letter (make sure that you do this safely). Alternatively, you could tear the letter into tiny pieces and throw it away.
Go gently
Now you’re ready to move into 2024. But do so gently. There’s no need to rush. There’s a whole expansive year stretching out before you. We’re still in the fertile void of winter, the dreaming time. Our bodies are calling us to go inward, to nurture ourselves and our inner reserves, to think deeply about what we want to call forward into this new year, so that we can bring that into the light come spring.
So take your time. We have all year.
See you again soon.
I really enjoyed that article, Allegra. Especially the suggestion of creating 'mountains and valleys' to validate our experiences in 2023. It reminds me of creating a lifeline with my clients, where we use stones and flowers to mark significant events in their lives (bad and good ones, respectively), but I never thought of doing something similar to reflect on the year. Thank you :)