10 Questions for Your New Year's Ritual
Hey love,
I know that this time last year we hope for a very different 2020 and so, standing on the precipice of a year that promises to be just as confusing, difficult and complex, some feelings might be coming up around New Year’s eve.
Perhaps you want to do some kind of ritual for yourself, or you really just want to zone out from the world and eat chocolate and binge Netflix. Both are valid.
If you are somewhere in between, i.e., you want to do something to acknowledge the new year but you are also feeling resistant to opening up to the possibilities (because what's the point after the dumpster fire 2020 has been?), then I have something that might hit the spot.
We never know what the future will hold, but I am pretty sure that the experience of the past twelve months may have caused many of us to look forward with a bit more worry, fear, and possibly hopelessness.
I’d like to offer you a moment of reprieve and help you to notice a few things that may have gone well last year, and name what you wish were possible for the next. I want to help you not just pay, but INVEST your attention to what is NEW and GOOD in your life, what is FRESH and freaky in your surroundings and what you can take into this budding year.
There is no secret to how we support our mental health, it’s simply a practice.
This is not about avoiding, bypassing, or downsizing. We need time and space for panic, rage, and grief.
AND, we need to let pleasure be a sign-post for you to keep following what you WANT. Want. Want.
This is about creating room for holding both. This practice is for everyone, but especially for you if you have a hard time noticing and feeling ANY pleasure or if you are better at knowing what you don’t want rather than what you DO want.
Naming and making space for what is pleasurable, is indeed a PRACTICE and it is more important than ever. Rather than focusing SOLELY on the bad...which we often perceive through the lens of old trauma, making current events even more tricky, I invite you to gently play and explore with the prompts I have for you today.
If you want, take a moment and answer these questions for your very own mini ritual. You can make the process as simple as taking out a piece of paper and jotting out your thoughts, or as elaborate as building yourself an altar and dedicating 10 minutes to each question.
10 prompts to help you find closure on 2020 and vision for 2021:
What have you learned about yourself and your community this past year?
What hard experiences do you need to acknowledge and maybe grieve?
How did your relationships change during the year?
What were some of your triumphs this year?
Where were you able to do things differently in a way that feels good and/or what changes this year actually felt amazing?
What patterns or bad habits were you able to break?
What would you like to see happen in 2021?
Where do you desire growth in 2021?
What is something you can tune into that excites you?
How would more pleasure feel and look like in 2021?
Like I've shared many times, allow the words to come out of you in a stream of consciousness. Meaning, don't edit yourself. Write down, type, or speak into a voice recorder, WHATEVER pops into your mind even if it seems ridiculous to our logical selves. This is great way to tap into our subconsciousness and learn something new ourselves. Healing and changing comes from compassionate acknowledgement and awareness.
Whatever answers come through, may you hold them with care and empathy. May these prompts help you process where are a possibly challenging year and establish what it is you need going forward.
You know how much I love journaling and how it has changed everything for me. Especially because it's such a simple and accessible process that puts us in a mental and written dialogue with ourselves, where we write in order to think, and to tease important thoughts out of fogginess and fear.
Let these questions gently move you out of overwhelm and into a place of clarity and self compassion for yourself.
with you in this weird and magical in between place,
xx love,
luna
Is MORE pleasure on your list of priorities for 2021?
Pleasure Witch Academy begins January 4th!
“Pleasure Witch Academy has changed my life. I didn’t know this level of nervous system regulation and joy could be real. And my sex life??? I’m finally not dissociating all of the time and having fucking amazing orgasms!!!
- Be, class of 2019
Pleasure Witch Academy is my 3 month container designed to reconnect you with all the things that bring you joy, while paving the way for more of what FEELS RIGHT in your life. It will help you connect into your own resilience and expand your capacity to stay centered while the world around you is in flux.
You can go after the deeply fulfilling life you want— and learn to enjoy the ride with whatever life throws at you.
If you want to learn how to prioritize pleasure, within a community that is committed to the same goal, join us for this round of Pleasure Witch Academy
It’s time to prioritize what feels good to you.
It’s time to name what you want and allow yourself to pursue it.
And become what you desire.
It’s not enough to just avoid and dismantle all that’s wrong with the world, we need to heal our internalized pleasure oppression and actively build and pursue the lives we DO want, one step at a time.
big fierce sparkly love,
luna