Ann Elizabeth Grace, Author

For me, December is the most reflective month of the year. There’s just something powerful about the lacing together of endings and beginnings. Last year at this time Dan and I lived in coastal California. (I can still hear the sea lions barking!) On New Year’s Eve we created what will hopefully become a yearly ritual.

We grabbed pencils and notebooks, lit tea candles, and posed three questions to ourselves and each other. What are you most grateful for this year? What do you want to leave behind? What do you wish to invoke in the New Year? Then we dropped into our sagging couch and quietly scribbled our thoughts. Reflections complete, we read aloud to one another. 

In hindsight, I can see that this exercise sustained me all year long. From the U.S. to Europe to Asia, 2010 delivered joys and challenges beyond my imagination. This short but purposeful ritual prepared me to receive each experience with new eyes.

I pose the three questions below in the hope that they will spark meaningful reflections in your life. And I wish you everything your heart desires in 2011!

1. What are you most grateful for in 2010?
2. What do you want to let go from 2010?
3. What intention do you wish to set for 2011?