Happy New...You? 🎉


​

Guten Tag, Reader,

Happy New Year’s Eve, especially to all the new people here who found me through the Holiday Slow Down. Welcome to these Joy Letters.

This is number 75, and it may come as no surprise that my celebration will be a long, slow walk in the cold and a warm sit by the fire, reflecting on how I may serve my readers even better. Please help me out by participating in a quick survey. More about that at the bottom of today’s letter.

How are you spending the last day of 2023?

Are you looking ahead?

Planning? Dreaming? Scheming?

Dreading?

Resolutioning?


resolution
​
[ rez-uh-loo-shuhn ]
noun

  1. a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.: Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.
  2. the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.
  3. a resolve; a decision or determination

Did the committee in your head vote for you to act differently next year?

Be different? Better, thinner, richer, stronger, healthier? Was it a unanimous vote? Or is there resistance already? A sense of overwhelm, perhaps? A doubt that the determination is strong enough?

Here is another interesting piece of knowledge about the word RESOLUTION:

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin resolūtiōn-, stem of resolūtiō “looseness, a release.”

Ahhhhh. My body just relaxed. Looseness. Release. Those words feel freeing when everything above felt a bit restricting. Forceful. Rigid.

According to my Chinese Medicine practitioners, the winter season is the worst time to begin anything new. Instead, it is a time to come inside. Preserve energy. Tend to our Qi. Rest. Reflect.

I invite you to let yourself off the self-improvement hook for a while.

What if the old you is just right? Not perfect, thank god.

  • What if you are exactly where and how you are supposed to be? What if you spent some time marveling and celebrating the work you already did to be here?
  • What if you allowed yourself to dream about 2024 with openness and curiosity rather than fitting yourself into the corset of your committee’s resolution?
  • What if the happy new you is the same old you, only with a new level of self-appreciation and a heightened sense of agency and authority over your choices?

If that sounds delicious but highly unachievable, why not start the new year with support? I would love to teach you how to bring out your calm, confident, and joyful side by this time next year.

My prices haven’t changed, so get ​a five- or ten-session package now. Or start with a free Meet-the-Coach call to clarify where and how to begin.

2023 Joy Letter Survey

You could participate in the survey to help me clarify how to serve you better in 2024. It shouldn’t take much more than 5-10 minutes. I put a lot of effort into these every other week, and your input makes it easier for me to focus on the subjects that matter to you.

Among all participants, I am giving away FIVE free “Year Ahead Tarot Readings.” The winners will email me their conundrums; I will draw a tarot card spread and offer an interpretation - also via email. If you are tarot-curious, this is an excellent opportunity for low-stakes exposure to the insight and guidance the cards can provide.

Follow me this way to the survey. It will be open until January 17,

I will see you back here in 2024 for issue 76.

Always on your side, truly,

p.s. This time of the year is fantastic for 1:1 coaching. Reflect on what went well in 2023 and start 2024 with less overwhelm and more confidence. Book a meet-the-coach call, and we'll chat about the details.​

If you got something from today's letter, why not buy me a coffee? In real life, or you can leave me a tip here.

Welcome to my Joy Letters

I am a recovering perfectionist, productivity chaser, and people pleaser, coaching women to disrupt old thought patterns, let go of behaviors that keep them stuck, and make their joy an everyday priority.

Read more from Welcome to my Joy Letters
scrolls I wrote by hand for my summer solstice nature therapy walk

Guten Tag, Reader, A few things before we get into the thrill of making life-impacting decisions: 🌿 July Moss Hour is coming up on July 7th. Join me on Zoom for a grounding gathering to start the month. 🛶 When was the last time you felt truly wild? Untamed? Fully You? If you have trouble answering (these or any of the questions down the letter), join us on the wildHER Rogue River Adventure. And now on to this week's letter: “I am not going to use this,” I mumbled to myself. “It is too banal,”...

mr laine fishing in the rain

Guten Tag, Reader, I am just getting off the river as this hits your inbox, so I am sharing a letter from two years ago that has not lost any of its relevance. Two things before you get to read that gem, though: Moss Hour, my virtual Forest Bathing Gathering formerly known as "Backyard Baths," is happening on July 7. I'd love it if you dropped in. The Solstice is nearing, and if you are in Missoula, please join me at Waterworks Hill for a Mindful Saunter on June 20, 6-7:30 p.m. The details...

sylke cheering in front of a waterfall

Guten Tag, Reader, It was still dark. Still cool. The rising sun threw only the slightest glimmer onto the very tops of the canyon walls. Soon, it would be bright. Warm. Hot probably. But not yet. Right then, all movement on the beach was guided by headlamps. The women were still wearing that extra layer as they broke down camp for the last time on this adventure. They moved with skill, strength, and grit. Unexperienced strangers just a week ago, they had bonded into a tight team of confident...