Rituals to Start The Year
Begin with joy. 🌿
Hello, lovely! I’m Nospheratt and this is Joy Every Week - a weekly quest to find joy in everyday things. Enjoy! :)
Hello, my friend. I’ve missed you, missed these little conversations we have every week. ☺️
We have crossed the threshold. The year is 2025, but to be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve quite left 2024 yet.
You see, I’ve been sick for weeks; since December, to be precise. So, the break ended up being longer than I planned, and my new year hasn’t started, not really; I haven’t been able to do much of anything except wait to feel better and find my thoughts again.
This was not how I pictured starting 2025. I knew it was going to be hard, with all the dystopian crap lurking in the near future, but I didn’t think I was going to be out of commission instead of reflecting about the year-that-was and dreaming up all the things I want to do, enjoy and create.
But life seldom goes as we pictured, so here we are.
Starting a new year, trying to find some hope, looking for the path forward.
Here are some things that I’m doing, looking forward to, finding joy in - the New Year rituals that support and guide me as I cross the threshold.
I hope you find something that will work for you, too; or at least some inspiration.
And let’s not worry about the date, alright? I know it’s almost February. We are where we are, and that’s okay, I promise. 💚
🪴Word of the Year
Since… around 2010, instead of New year resolutions, I’ve been doing the Word of the Year thing. The process of choosing a word/theme for the year is a lot of fun, and my word serves as anchor and guide during the entire year.
For 2025, I ended up choosing the same three “themes” from last year:
🌿 Adventure - Explore - Courage 🌿
From my journaling:
This feels spacious. It’s active and courageous, but doesn’t feel like pressure; feels like opportunities. To be brave, to grow. To do things. To try things, new things.
Go out there and explore possibilities.
Be an adventurer.
This framing helps me feel a little bit less anxious about the unknown, a little bit more excited about things I want to work on.
A few more words I’m keeping close to my heart this year:
Hope. Joy. Community.
Feel free to take some - or all of them - for yourself. 💙
🪴Unravel The Year
I’ve been doing Susannah Conway’s Unravel The Year for almost as long as the WOTY. It’s a lovely way to look back into the year that was, before dreaming up the year that will be.
It helps to put things in perspective, acknowledge the hard things, celebrate the progress and remember the joys.
🪴One List a Day
I started the One List a Day Journal last year, and it has been a constant source of joy and self-discovery throughout the year.
Since it has space for three years, it’s very interesting to see how my answers have changed, where I have new things to write and where my life and the way I see it stays the same.
🪴Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025
This one is new for me, but I’m very much looking forward to get started with it: Selina Barker’s Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025 journal.
I’m already pondering answers to the prompts and questions.
Making plans in my head, dividing the year in quarters and listing the projects that I’m excited about. Planting seeds of dreams and hopes. 🌱
🪴Slow January
Slowanuary - the warm-up month of the year. A time to not leap into action, but to be still, to go slow. A time to rest and reflect, dream and plan. —Welcome to SLOWanuary - the warm-up month of the year
I have done something along these lines for some years now, and I love that Selina has a word for it. Even when I was living in the Southern Hemisphere, where January is high summer, I realized I needed a pause, a time of quiet and replenishment, after the chaos of the end of the year and the holidays.
And okay, this year my pause has been less than restful since I’ve been sick and feeling like trash for most of it. 😑
But it still counts!
(I may extend this to February, try to stay in the “start slow” mindset a bit longer. We’ll see.)
🌱 These are some of the things I do to start the year with joy.
Not with expectations of magically (and quite suddenly) turning into someone I’m not; but by taking stock of where I’ve been, what I have done, where I am, and where I want to go from here.
It’s a powerful thing, to acknowledge the battles I fought, the challenges I faced and the obstacles ahead, along with the victories, the happiness, the hopes and dreams.
The tapestry that is my life shows me that I am human, and I am strong.
Even when I fail, even when I break.
And so are you, my friend. Even when you don’t feel like it.
You are here, and that matters.
You matter.
May you find small joys every day. 💚
🌻 This Week’s Quest - Rituals to Start The Year
Ideas & inspiration to find your joy.
1 - List Your Own New Year Rituals
Maybe you don’t enjoy doing a lot of complex things like me, but what are some small rituals you like to do to start a new year?
Any simple thing, like:
Start a new planner or journal
Buy a new calendar
Put away holiday decorations (I did this very recently! 😄)
Organize your desk
Whatever it is, write them down. Then think about:
Why do you do these things?
How do they make you feel?
Where’s the joy in it, or how can you make it more joyful?
Are there other small, joyful things you’d like to add to your list?
2 - Notes for December You
I do this every year in January, and it’s ridiculously helpful. Think back on the holiday season, the last few months of the year, and write down:
➡️ What worked?
What made you happy, gave you joy?
What made your life easier?
What was unexpectedly nice?
These are things you’d like to do again this year!
➡️ What didn’t work?
What made you miserable?
What do you do every year and end up regretting it?
What used to be joyful, useful or made sense but doesn’t anymore?
These are the things you’re going to try to avoid when the season comes.
➡️ What are you going to try next time?
What are some things you’d like to try or experiment for your next holiday season?
What are you going to do differently?
These are the things you’d like to change or add to your holiday celebrations/season.
Once you have your list, put a reminder on your calendar to read it at the end of the year (and make a note about where can you find the list!). I like to check mine at the end of September, when I start making plans for the holidays; but set your reminder to any time that will be helpful to you.
🌳I’m glad you are here.
To be honest, I am at once terrified of and very excited about 2025. Terrified because we’re entering dark times. The next few years won’t be easy, and I don’t know how we’ll come out at the other side of it.
And I’m excited about doing my part. I have many plans and ideas to help you keep your joy close to your heart, part of your daily life. To use it as fuel and sustenance. To share it with the people that matter to you. So you can have the necessary energy to keep going, and do your own work.
It’s not going to be easy. But we’ll get through it, together. 💛
If you know someone who’d like more joy in their life, how about sharing Joy Every Week? 🌿
That’s It For Today!
I’d love to know, what are your rituals for the new year? ✨
Or tell me about little things that are giving you joy this month. What’s the smallest, most simple joy you’ve found this year so far? 🌻 😊
Until next time. —Nospheratt
I've missed you...