Let go, invite in

Happy New Year - if indeed this is your personal new year.
For many people around the world, it’s just another day in another week, and therefore probably a good time to remember how arbitrary this marking of new beginnings actually is.

But if, like me, you have been spending time over the past few days reflecting on the year gone by and the year ahead, here’s a very simple idea that I’ve been playing with.

What will you let go of in the coming days, weeks and months in order to simplify or make space?

It’s all too easy at this time of year to feel that we should be setting goals, doing new stuff, doing more. But it’s magical thinking to pretend that we can shoehorn new things into a life that already feels as if it’s straining at the seams. I have noticed, over the past year, that it’s more helpful for me to think first about what I can actually let go of or stop doing.

What is no longer helpful to me? What is a drain on my time? What could I actually say ‘no’ to or find easier ways to take care of?

Once I’ve done that, it feels much more realistic to ask myself what new thing I can start doing to honour what I want to invite in or celebrate or achieve in my life.

For writers and makers of all kinds, time is probably the single most precious resource we have. If you’re thinking about focusing on your writing or nurturing your creative work over the coming months, what can you let go of in order to make space for that on a regular basis?

What might you be able to ask for help with. I personally find this one really scary. Ask for help? But I’m trying it. I think it might get easier with practice.

One thing out. One thing in. Perhaps it doesn’t need to be more complicated than this.