We’ve made it, the final day of 2023…
It’s not my favourite occasion of all, but I have slowly grown to enjoy New Year’s Eve. How do you feel about the occasion?
It’s been a gradual shift over the years of simply (although not always easily) demanding less of myself. Taking the pressure off one month of the year and this idea that things about me needed to radically improve or change.
Now my focus is to go into the new year with self compassion and a sense of hope, not with the idea that I’m just not good enough! Can we all make a pact to scrap this?
So, how am I doing this and almost avoiding all of the pressure? I realised yesterday as I made a cup of tea, and sat down to start writing, that a lot of it comes back to journaling.
Journaling helps me go into the new year with self compassion, connects me back to my values and provides a small, subtle, sense of direction - and it’s this that’s felt most nourishing for me.
So, I wanted to share the exact prompts I’ve used to bring in the new year with you…
Journal prompts for new year
If you’re coming to journal and your mind feels busy, I find doing a short meditation practice useful (I shared a 3 minute grounding meditation here), or doing stream of consciousness journaling (writing whatever comes to mind) before starting.
Anyway, here are the prompts:
What went well in 2023?
What didn’t go so well/ drained your energy?
What did you learn from the year?
What would you like to let go of?
What would living more look like in 2024?
What are your top priorities/ things you’d like to achieve?
What words or phrase comes to mind that sums up how you want to feel in 2024?
How can you go gently into the new year honouring the fact it’s still winter?
I hope these prompts serve you well, and if you resonate with making a word for the year and would like to share it in the comments please do, I’d love to know. It was actually a phrase that came up for me which is at ease.
Monthly Journaling Club
If you’d like to journal as a community and have a monthly check-in, the Monthly Journaling Club starts back again on the 2nd of January! It’s a 35-40 minute journaling session that happens at the start of each month to help you tune out the distractions, go inwards and re-align for the month ahead.
The sessions will be guided and include prompts, so all you need is your journal, a pen and anything else you require to feel comfortable and at ease. If you can’t make a session, you’ll still get access to the prompts.
If you’d like to join, you can upgrade to a paid Slower Space Subscription for £4.50 per month. This also gives you access to exclusive posts & more.
Wishing you a slow, nourishing start to 2024 ❤️
Jodie x
I rarely do journal prompts but felt drawn toward these (I joined your journal club once a few months ago & enjoyed it!) especially after taking such value from journaling yesterday after a difficult time. Enjoyed them so much, thank you! My word(s) were calm, slow, gentle, mindful, compassion, I think I will streamline these to one or two words 😌Have a lovely new year 🩵
I love the journal prompts you share in this newsletter! I haven't been someone to journal yet, but this makes me think of starting a journal myself. I read a newsletter by Emily Male a few weeks ago about thinking of a word for the year and because I couldn't just choose one, I picked two words for my 2024 and they are action and balance.^^