After the mad dash of wrapping up work, shopping, cleaning, preparing, then gorging on food, and passing out... we finally get to slow down. Holidays. During that (weird? special? magical?) time of the year - we’re often surrounded by the people who helped (or hindered!) us along the way. Family, friends, spouses. Sometimes that can be triggering. But it can also surface new insights about old patterns and force us to reflect.

Personally, I aim to reflect more than get triggered. So sometime between Dec 25 and Jan 1 - I take the time to fully take in the year past and dream of the year ahead. I’ve done this for 7 years running. And yeah, some vintages are better than others.

This is not an "annual review", not a "year plan", and most definitely not "goal setting" or "new year resolutions". I deeply hate all of those concepts. Anything that's too regimented is bound to fail. Come February, most of the goals, resolutions and even those 360 reviews are long forgotten.

My approach - inspired by kids as the true geniuses they are - is a "Trip Around The Sun". This community is really special to me so I thought I'd share a different way of thinking about transitions, intention-setting, and all the good stuff endings and beginnings are about :)

And if you care to get more no-BS content on traying to find that magic balance between living fully and living slowly - I invite you to subscribe on substack for weekly drops on Wednesdays. And if you enjoy this or have any feedback - drop me a note at [email protected] - love getting people's thoughts on my work.

Happy reflecting Elphas!