by Rebecca
I make no secret of the fact that I love New Year. Eve is for gratitude and banishing. I’ve written a big piece on a New Year Manifesting ritual here, and it’s the one I’ll be doing this year too. However it takes a bit of time, and if you just haven’t got that get two pieces of white paper, a white candle and a bay leaf. Set fire to the bay leaf (it will go up quickly) to open the space. On the first piece of white paper, write a thank you letter - to the Universe, to the divine, to spirit, to God, to something bigger than yourself. Whatever connects with you.
‘Dear Universe…’
Then write everything you are grateful for in your life at this moment in time. Root yourself fully in the here and now. Feel joy, feel wonderment, relief, embarrassment maybe, whatever comes up, accept it and let it happen. Sign your name at the bottom. Read over it, take it in.
Take three deep breaths to let it go.
The second piece of white paper is a contract between you and the Universe. I don’t believe in asking for things and expecting them to happen. I believe in working with something, making a promise to apply myself towards the things that I want and having faith that whatever is out there will take care of the rest. It’s useful, in that it means my life does not become one big Veruca Salt ‘I want a Golden Goose’ foot stamp. I think more carefully about what I’m prepared to put the time in for. It makes the list more focused and actionable.
So yes, again write ‘Dear Universe’ (or whatever), then a list of what it is you’d like to call in. At the end, think of a positive change that you can make in your life to trade off and keep your end of the bargain. The last time I did this, I wrote that I would be at my desk with my laptop open by 9am every day of the week.
Then, burn the first letter SOMEWHERE SAFE. And bury the second in the earth, or in a plant pot. Plant it like a seed & trust that it will grow. I would take it with my on my New Year’s Day walk and bury it by a tree or plant that I liked.
So yes that’s New Year’s Eve taken care of, and now to my absolute favourite. New Year’s Day! **Sighs contentedly.** A fresh start. The outdoors. Time stretching out forwards, the hope in it all, the potential. Lisa Kholostenko has written about it beautifully here:
It was not always thus! I had to really, truly reframe January for myself a couple of years ago. I am a luxurious, Sheba-cat-like creature, meant to lie on warm paving slabs in the sun and eat moist chunks in gravy. A clairvoyant once told me that I was very rich in a past life, and had a whopping sense of a duty that left me creatively unfulfilled (‘perhaps a queen?’ I asked hopefully). With its darkness and coldness and post Christmas self assessment tax (a cruel move by HMRC that I will never understand), January was always the very opposite of how I thrived and identified.
Now though, I get it. It might be since I began to spend more time in the countryside actually. The trick is in understanding life’s balance, of withdrawing to emerge, of watching the trees shed in order to become more abundant. Of understanding we are never in nature, we are nature, and so when the animals and plants hibernate or retreat, it stands to reason that we are built to do the same.
I now see January as a time of sort of monastic inner work, an extended period indoors in order that when the lightness appears I can step into it with surety.
Here’s a few ways to make the process enjoyable.
Resolutions
People hate these don’t they? ‘80% of people don’t stick to them rah rah rah’ they sneer, as they smoke fags and eat chocolates and don’t go to the gym or journal. And that’s fine, good for them! But I do feel they’re missing the point.
For me, resolutions aren’t about creating a spreadsheet of all the ways you’ll be better and giving yourself a hard time when you inevitably take a day off. You don’t have to have a good hard look at what you need to do better, or set yourself up to fail.
I prefer to think of them as things that I’m going to try, with the cleanness of the date of New Year acting as a kind of boost. Another hard and fast rule for me is that I never, EVER cut anything out entirely. The start of the year should not have a finger wagging energy, it should be curious and open. That said I do know a few people who went sober on New Year’s Day so maybe that harshness does work for those that need it.
Anyway I’ll generally give a few things a try in a very ‘why not?’ way, and ask myself:
Do I feel good for doing this?
Does the feeling good outweigh the not being arsed? (e.g. I feel good for cooking a nutritious meal every evening, but it’s taking longer than I expected it to which is stressing me out)
Am I better to those around me as a result of doing this, or am I worse? (e.g. do I feel energised and positive after the CrossFit class, or am I being a dick to everyone?)
Is there a less black and white alternative I can switch to? (e.g. rather than 3 spin classes a week, do 1 and walk there and back).
Then I’ll stick with whatever is making a positive change and get rid of what isn’t.
I must have given up on at least fifty things over the years, but the things that have stuck remain some of my favourites: audiobooks, sauna and cold plunge, collagen, affirmations, hot yoga.
Astrology reading with Cosmic Girl, £20.
I really rate astrologer Ashleigh Skinner, who is now on Substack for all your cosmic needs. An hour long session with her on zoom will set you up for the year ahead. She’ll take you through month by month, let you know what themes are turning up for you/key dates where the stars are aligning, and answer any questions you may have about specific areas of your life. There’ll be a lot of information, so I tend to put my phone on record then go for a long walk with it about a week later. Really, I can’t recommend her enough.
Intention setting ceremony for 2nd Jan, £14
I’ll be at this! During the first week of January every year, my pal Seda (a truly joyful healer) runs an evening online. She’ll guide us through meditations and get us to visualise what we want to attract in 2026. No one has to share with the group I promise, it’s more a sort of real life vision board. It would make such a lovely gift to buy for a friend, especially if you wanted to attend together. You’ll leave with a word for the year, something that you want to attract and that you can always come back to to anchor yourself. I checked in with my 2025 word today in fact and felt quite overwhelmed at how powerful it’s been.
Culchure
Gift yourself something to look forward to. An exhibition, a gig, a play. I used to do the theatre round ups for Conde Nast Traveller, and consider myself extremely discerning, and my big tip off for this year is a West End transfer where currently you can get tickets for £25.
