019: A Free 2020 Reflection Journal
December always makes me a little introspective. Maybe it’s the nights getting longer, maybe it’s the whole hoopla about the new year (I’m a real sucker for starting new things). But I always find myself turning inward at this time, reflecting on the year and looking forward to the next one. It’s a good time for me to process the year before and look for ways I can do better (or more of the same!) in the year to come.
And woof, do I have a lot to process from this year.
We all do, I’ll bet. 2020 was (excuse my French) an absolute bitch. I think all of us felt kicked when we were already down at least once this year. We’re all eager for 2021, for fresh starts and clean slates.
Yesterday, I told my Instagram followers about my usual journaling practice to help myself deal with 2020. For a decade now I’ve been recycling questions therapists have asked me or encouraged me to use as journal prompts to help myself deal with new traumas. (That sounds so dramatic, but like… anything is a ‘trauma’ if you lose sleep over it.)
Over the years, I’ve developed a pretty ritualistic end-of-year reflection + goal-setting process, which begins with a lot of asking myself questions about how I’m doing, really. It helps me get clear on things so I can move into the next year ready to actually move forward.
This year is special though, isn’t it? With surviving a global pandemic, the usual questions aren’t cutting it. So I’ve begun adapting them for this no-good, very-bad, once-in-a-lifetime year.
I asked everyone who followed me on Instagram if they wanted these questions adapted into journaling prompts they could use to emotionally process 2020. The response was overwhelming positive, so I worked on it late into last night. It became suddenly very important to me that you had this in your hands today.
It’s important to me mostly because we’re already halfway through December and there’s only two weeks left in the year. Some of these questions are hard, and if you’ve never done this process before, it can be too difficult to do in one sitting.
But also because… well, there’s a solar eclipse today (it’s already begun as I write this). If you’re big into astrology, you know the power of the eclipses. Today and the next few days are great times to start something new, to open yourself up to new things. What you begin now will start to come to fruition in about six months. So what better time to journal and figure out how to put this pandemic behind us?
And hey, if you’re not into astrology, that’s okay. These questions have nothing to actually do with it. And it’s a good time to start processing the pandemic either way.
You can download the PDF for free at the link below. I hope it helps you.
Obligatory disclaimers: These journal prompts are not meant to stand in for actual counseling or mental health treatment. If you need to see a doctor, please do that. I am not a medical doctor or licensed mental health worker, and am only repeating the questions that I have been given by my caregivers in the past.
If the button doesn’t work, copy/paste this into your search bar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ri7b8_QwGtaCOQfvVML8EqHjL4DiUyeS/view?usp=sharing
A usual Collected Rejections article will be coming out this Sunday!
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I keep these newsletters free by not worrying too much about flow or typos. But if you want to, you can tip me for it, as a treat.
xx,
Valorie
Photo credit: Miguel Claro, for Space.com.