Thank you for prompting me to sit and write answers to the questions, to make five lists. The final question about harebrained ideas made me return to a whim I had a few years ago and to think more seriously that it's something I'd like to do and could be good at, and to potentially develop a career around—to get training to become an equine massage therapist. You had an amazing 2021, and thank you so much for your writing and this newsletter. My heart is with you in the coming year.
It has been a very long time since I've written anything that I'm proud of. This list was just what I needed. Thank you, Suleika, for sharing this list and caring for your community even as you embark on what in many ways is a solo journey. Sending much love, Judith.
Thank you for this....it was so refreshing to do these prompts- reading through my old journals and setting intentions and not seeing alot of them manifest was pretty depressing - so to do something like this felt freeing! Sending you much love and gratitude for continuing to inspire us
Love this journaling challenge. In the past I wasn't a fan of journaling but reading your words I figured I should step outside my comfort zone. It's amazing how therapeutic to see your inner words written down on paper and how things but more clearer.
I absolutely love this, Suleika! I always feel pulled to do something introspective on January 1 and this is the perfect guided meditation/journalism prompt. I'm going to curl up in a comfy chair with my journal and coffee right now. Thank you. Sending much love to you.
2020 left me spinning. I am an event planner and have owned my business for 25 years. Spring means travel, hotel and convention center negotiations and contracts. It means connecting with old friends; long workdays in hotels with my staff who are friends and colleagues. The loss of income sent me reeling, the loss of community was devastating. My early morning one hundred emails, became two that were spam…
In 2021, I am proud that I found meaningful projects to fill my time. Yes, I am still an event planner, but in this uncertain time, my clients have gone virtual which means my workload is light as a feather. I am proud that I culled all the documents of our lives from birth certificates to well child checkups to college graduations, to first grade coloring sheets and more. Reading sweet notes that my children wrote to me has brought me joy. I digitized not only all the documents in our lives, but also 15,000+ photos. My goal is to create digital scrapbooks for my adult children. While I have not finished this huge project, I am proud of the hundreds of files I have named and filed online in preparation for the final piece of the project.
I am also proud that I picked up knitting. My mother taught me elementary knitting skills when I was younger, but I had done nothing with it in thirty years. I have now knitted ten hats and eight scarves and one small ‘cozy’ doll blanket for my granddaughter.
2. What did this year leave you yearning for?
More time with my two grandchildren. The pandemic has kept me from traveling as frequently as I once did to their home seven hundred miles away in California. I long to sit on the beach with them.
I yearn for peace from the pandemic and peace from the political roar that floats constantly above our heads. Peace.
3. What’s causing you anxiety?
Covid. My family has been incredibly careful throughout the pandemic. We have
done everything to mitigate risks. Existing health concerns have necessitated a
‘hermit’ approach and the loss of social interactions has been harmful. I tested our kids for Covid as we gathered for Christmas and then we hunkered down and had a wonderful time.
Inexplicably, as of yesterday, I have Covid. I have high anxiety as I sleep in my recliner
to keep the congestion from building up in my lungs. I have an infusion of monoclonal
antibodies scheduled in five days. Supply shortages made anything sooner impossible.
I have high anxiety about my health. Will this be the worst? Or will I tank in the next few
days? I am triple vaccinated.
4. What resources, skills, and practices can you rely on in the coming year?
Projects to fill my time and stimulate my mind.
Learning new skills such as knitting.
Talking about all of life’s changes. The pandemic’s effects on the meeting/hospitality
industry have meant that I retired sooner than I planned. For the first time
in my life, I have found a counselor to talk through and guide my navigation through many
life changes.
5. What are your wildest, most harebrained ideas and dreams?
We are realizing one this month as we move from our home of 35 years to a beautiful, new,
smaller, retirement home. This has been a real leap of faith; hoping not to wake up there in|
tears and want to ‘go home.’
My short-term dream is to use all my scanned materials to make a small book called The
House for my kids with all the great photos of our home and memories.
Long term dream: win the Mega Millions and take my children and their families to Italy for
a month; then buy them houses all in the same area.
Thank you for these, Sulieka. We are all searching for something more in our lives. I believe it resides from a deep place of love that is within that we connect to with those we draw in around us. I know you feel this constant loving support. I want you to know you draw all of us in with your vulnerability and honesty. In some form and shape we are all praying in love for you in this space you find yourself in. Love is amazing in that when we suffer, there it is holding us ever so gently. In tender love, I hold you.
What a special set of gifts this post is, Suleika! Your generosity is boundless. These prompts are exactly what my weary, burdened heart needed to reconnect with my own wisdom. The love and insights you send into the minds and hearts of readers are uniquely healing. Know this, as you know your own love and grief. Deep bow and gratitude. The energy you muster to heal and love so many is a mystery.
I think you are making a lovely difference in our world. Thank you. I'm starting to think of you as a friend. I'd like to mail you a card but don't know your mailing address.
Thank you so much for your lists, I am grateful to my friend Eileen who gifted me with month subscription, and I recently read your book which she also recommended. I just finished your 5 lists and truly enjoyed the process. I have been wanting to focus on writing more this year, our isolation during Covid has made me so very reflective, my mind flooded with memories and ideas I have usually had no time to consider for in the past. The last list reminded me that none of my harebrained ideas are out of my reach and all doable! Thank you for your sharing your gifts and insight.
Thank you for prompting me to sit and write answers to the questions, to make five lists. The final question about harebrained ideas made me return to a whim I had a few years ago and to think more seriously that it's something I'd like to do and could be good at, and to potentially develop a career around—to get training to become an equine massage therapist. You had an amazing 2021, and thank you so much for your writing and this newsletter. My heart is with you in the coming year.
I am grateful for these prompts and the care with which you give them to us! Blessings in the new year!
Love this so much, Susu! Thank you for the ongoing love you send us in these beautiful Sunday gifts!
It has been a very long time since I've written anything that I'm proud of. This list was just what I needed. Thank you, Suleika, for sharing this list and caring for your community even as you embark on what in many ways is a solo journey. Sending much love, Judith.
Thank you for this....it was so refreshing to do these prompts- reading through my old journals and setting intentions and not seeing alot of them manifest was pretty depressing - so to do something like this felt freeing! Sending you much love and gratitude for continuing to inspire us
Love this journaling challenge. In the past I wasn't a fan of journaling but reading your words I figured I should step outside my comfort zone. It's amazing how therapeutic to see your inner words written down on paper and how things but more clearer.
Yesterday I listened to you and Kate Bowler. That’s it. That was my day! Thank you
I absolutely love this, Suleika! I always feel pulled to do something introspective on January 1 and this is the perfect guided meditation/journalism prompt. I'm going to curl up in a comfy chair with my journal and coffee right now. Thank you. Sending much love to you.
At 12 midnight I realized that I was healing
Yes the physical healing of à New hip implanted on the 28th
Yes the traumatic healing of sexual abuse in the 70's
Yes the spiritual healing that made me think I would never find that eternal light outside a window or in my heart
Yes the healing of the mind that whirled around thinking less of one self
Yes the social healing of approaching each individual as the miracle they represent
All, All connected and interconnected even through the dawn of each day, and the peacefullness of night
I stand with my beloved struggling to be there for one another
And suddenly à New place, à New Year arrivés
And everything seems simple
my love Nancy Hannah
1. What in the last year are you proud of?
2020 left me spinning. I am an event planner and have owned my business for 25 years. Spring means travel, hotel and convention center negotiations and contracts. It means connecting with old friends; long workdays in hotels with my staff who are friends and colleagues. The loss of income sent me reeling, the loss of community was devastating. My early morning one hundred emails, became two that were spam…
In 2021, I am proud that I found meaningful projects to fill my time. Yes, I am still an event planner, but in this uncertain time, my clients have gone virtual which means my workload is light as a feather. I am proud that I culled all the documents of our lives from birth certificates to well child checkups to college graduations, to first grade coloring sheets and more. Reading sweet notes that my children wrote to me has brought me joy. I digitized not only all the documents in our lives, but also 15,000+ photos. My goal is to create digital scrapbooks for my adult children. While I have not finished this huge project, I am proud of the hundreds of files I have named and filed online in preparation for the final piece of the project.
I am also proud that I picked up knitting. My mother taught me elementary knitting skills when I was younger, but I had done nothing with it in thirty years. I have now knitted ten hats and eight scarves and one small ‘cozy’ doll blanket for my granddaughter.
2. What did this year leave you yearning for?
More time with my two grandchildren. The pandemic has kept me from traveling as frequently as I once did to their home seven hundred miles away in California. I long to sit on the beach with them.
I yearn for peace from the pandemic and peace from the political roar that floats constantly above our heads. Peace.
3. What’s causing you anxiety?
Covid. My family has been incredibly careful throughout the pandemic. We have
done everything to mitigate risks. Existing health concerns have necessitated a
‘hermit’ approach and the loss of social interactions has been harmful. I tested our kids for Covid as we gathered for Christmas and then we hunkered down and had a wonderful time.
Inexplicably, as of yesterday, I have Covid. I have high anxiety as I sleep in my recliner
to keep the congestion from building up in my lungs. I have an infusion of monoclonal
antibodies scheduled in five days. Supply shortages made anything sooner impossible.
I have high anxiety about my health. Will this be the worst? Or will I tank in the next few
days? I am triple vaccinated.
4. What resources, skills, and practices can you rely on in the coming year?
Projects to fill my time and stimulate my mind.
Learning new skills such as knitting.
Talking about all of life’s changes. The pandemic’s effects on the meeting/hospitality
industry have meant that I retired sooner than I planned. For the first time
in my life, I have found a counselor to talk through and guide my navigation through many
life changes.
5. What are your wildest, most harebrained ideas and dreams?
We are realizing one this month as we move from our home of 35 years to a beautiful, new,
smaller, retirement home. This has been a real leap of faith; hoping not to wake up there in|
tears and want to ‘go home.’
My short-term dream is to use all my scanned materials to make a small book called The
House for my kids with all the great photos of our home and memories.
Long term dream: win the Mega Millions and take my children and their families to Italy for
a month; then buy them houses all in the same area.
Thank you for these, Sulieka. We are all searching for something more in our lives. I believe it resides from a deep place of love that is within that we connect to with those we draw in around us. I know you feel this constant loving support. I want you to know you draw all of us in with your vulnerability and honesty. In some form and shape we are all praying in love for you in this space you find yourself in. Love is amazing in that when we suffer, there it is holding us ever so gently. In tender love, I hold you.
What a special set of gifts this post is, Suleika! Your generosity is boundless. These prompts are exactly what my weary, burdened heart needed to reconnect with my own wisdom. The love and insights you send into the minds and hearts of readers are uniquely healing. Know this, as you know your own love and grief. Deep bow and gratitude. The energy you muster to heal and love so many is a mystery.
Thank you. I spent an hour this morning doing this and it was cathartic and uplifting, but mostly it didn't feel overwhelming
I think you are making a lovely difference in our world. Thank you. I'm starting to think of you as a friend. I'd like to mail you a card but don't know your mailing address.
Thank you ❤.
Thank you so much for your lists, I am grateful to my friend Eileen who gifted me with month subscription, and I recently read your book which she also recommended. I just finished your 5 lists and truly enjoyed the process. I have been wanting to focus on writing more this year, our isolation during Covid has made me so very reflective, my mind flooded with memories and ideas I have usually had no time to consider for in the past. The last list reminded me that none of my harebrained ideas are out of my reach and all doable! Thank you for your sharing your gifts and insight.