Solstice Ritual: Who Are You Becoming?

Review and Renew with Future You.

Hi friend,

It’s been many months since you welcomed in this year.

Your life has shifted since then, perhaps subtly, perhaps dramatically. Whatever happened, it’s safe to say that you are now a different person than a year ago.

Collectively, this hasn’t been an easy year. Perhaps there were also intense personal challenges you were faced with. Whatever happened, you are here now. You made it to this point in time. And that, by itself, is an accomplishment.

Or, to put it in Latin: “Modo liceat vivere, est spes.” (“While there's life, there's hope”)—Publius Terentius Afer

Speaking of hope, those of us in the Northern hemisphere have something to look forward to: we’ll soon be getting more sunlight! (I’m so excited for this!!!) And if you live in the Southern hemisphere, you still have many sun-rich days to look forward to.

Wherever you are in the world, the coming Solstice (on December 21 at 10:27pm EST) promises a turning point of some sort. That’s why this whole week is a great time to review and renew.

Which brings me to this simple ritual I created for you, to allow you to take advantage of this special time.

A Solstice Ritual

You can do this ritual before, during or shortly after the December Solstice… and then anytime in the future when you feel like it. This can include your birthday, the equinoxes, the June Solstice, or any other dates that are meaningful to you.

✅ If you already have a specific date in mind when you would like to revisit this process, I encourage you to put a reminder into your digital or physical calendar.

✅ Decide where you would like to take notes of whatever comes up for you during this ritual. I’m a fan of using physical diaries but you do you! Use whatever you like—Apple Notes, Microsoft Word, a Roman-style wax tablet, Papyrus rolls, Leuchttturm bullet journals, one-side good paper, …

✅ This is a two part ritual (review and renew). Decide if you want to do this ritual in one go or in two. If you want to do it in one go, I’d recommend setting aside a full hour of uninterrupted time. If you want to divide it in two parts, I’d recommend having two blocks of 30 minutes each.

✅ Optional: if you want to make this feel more special, you can set up a nice space for yourself (whatever that means for you). You can also take a shower or bath beforehand. If that’s not possible, you might like to splash some water over your face.

Part 1: Review

Alright, now that you’re ready, let’s start with part 1.

To get clear on were you would like to go, it’s useful to consider where you currently are. Here are a few questions you can use to drive your end-of-year review (mid-year review if you are doing this on the June solstice):

• What successes did you celebrate this year? It doesn’t matter how small they are, they deserve to acknowledged and celebrated?

• What challenges did you deal with this year?

• What did you learn this year that your past self didn’t know?

• Who were you this year that you have never been before?

• What aspects of the past did you revisit this year? This could be something like practicing an old hobby again, reconnecting with friends, looking at pictures, etc.

• If applicable: what is an area where you lost hope this year? And what might be needed to regain that hope?

In general, I encourage you to keep this review as positive as possible. If you don’t have the time to do a full review (and even if you do), here’s the most important question to answer:

✨✨✨ What’s the very best thing that happened this year? ✨✨✨

If you like, I’d love for you to share your answer to this question in the comments below! Let’s share some positive memories together.

Part 2: Renew with the help of your Future Self

After your review is done, it’s time to look forward. Which brings us to a guided meditation I have prepared for you. In this guided meditation, you will meet your Future Self and receive advice, support, and council.

If you're uncertain about the future, this visualization meditation can show you that help is always available. But before getting started, you might have a question: 

Who (or what) is your Future Self? 

Your Future Self is a wiser version of you, one that has seen the challenges ahead and successfully made it through. That's why your Future Self is uniquely equipped to help you. This version of you knows everything that you know... and so much more! 

If you're in a safe place, not driving or operating machinery, and you're ready to get started, just hit the "play" button.

A transcript of this meditation is available on my website here.

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Would you like more?

I am offering the meditation above to you as a gift, without a paywall.

You can support my work by becoming a paid subscriber here.

If you would like to spend even more time with your Future Self, you might like my mini-course Future You: Flourish With the Help of Your Future Self. I offer this to my paid subscribers as a token of my appreciation.

Either way, I hope this Solstice Ritual has been helpful for you!

Warmly,
Bere (who now goes by Louise)