We turned the pages of the calendar and there you are, 2022, a new year. You’re here and I for one, welcome you.

I’ve come to appreciate the transition from one year to the next. I’m learning to say a gentle farewell and an easy hello.

Saying hello to 2022 feels different

At the beginning of 2021, after the weight of the first year of the pandemic, the world seemed frenzied in anticipation of change. Overwhelmed by the pressure, Lighten Up 2021, was all I could think to respond.

And now, 2022 feels more like turning a page in a novel than starting a new book. Maybe it’s because I’m not expecting a whole new story.

Beauty in the in-between

There’s beauty in intentionally living in this in-between-ness, this transition from one year to the next. There’s peace in allowing the new year to settle on us like a soft mist, rather than expecting a sudden shift in weather.

Having one foot in 2021 and one in 2022 feels like a moment of grace. Before we dive into the new year, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past.

Naming the narrative

Emily P. Freeman says that naming the narrative helps us consider where we are in our own story. Naming things gives them importance and weight, helps us be specific, and gives us better understanding of underlying emotions and issues.

As I step into 2022, I sense a deep shift in my perspective. And I realize that I have changed this year. The arc of my story, my narrative, has shifted.

As I pause to reflect, I realize that the call I felt to lighten up my expectations for 2021 and let the year unfold, slowly and with purpose … this call wasn’t simply a rallying cry for the year. It was an invitation to a new way of living.

My word for 2021 was light and the invitation for my soul was to slow down, be less anxious, create a sustainable rhythm for my life. I wanted to look back on my year and this season of life — and see progress, growth and purpose.

Small, daily and tiny steps add up

I cleared out clutter, removing what didn’t bring me joy or serve a purpose. Instead of constantly moving, I focused on getting the rest I needed and gathering my strength. I quit pushing myself to do more and settled into sitting with my journal in the mornings, writing with quiet music in the background.

I craved solitude as much as connection with others, finding the place where my mind was “free from input from other minds” (Ketheldge & Erwin, Lead Yourself First). And, I realized that I also have to curate how much input my brain receives in order to process my own thoughts.

Intention is purpose coming to life

For me, the intention to live lighter was born from desperation, or at least exasperation. I was tired of living tired and overwhelmed. I wanted to claim God’s promise of rest for our souls. Where was the easy yoke and the light burden he promised? Why was I trying so hard and feeling so far behind?

Didn’t God promise us?

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:29-30

We’re meant to carry a specific burden

In August, as I shared my writing journey with the mastermind group that bolstered me through 2020, my friend Carrie told me that she’d learned oxen yokes were hand-carved for each ox. They were designed to fit the ox specifically so that the animal could pull efficiently and effectively.

If we’re using the yoke designed specifically for us, our burden will be light. When we let go of what’s not ours to carry, we can tune in to our unique design and carry what has been chosen for us.

Mostly, I’m learning, we have to let go of the false assumption that we’re in control. And, of trying to be in control. We have to live lighter, not try harder.

Light comes when we let go

For me, living lighter was a gradual and slow mindset shift. As I began last year, I began to think of myself as a curator of what belonged in my life and what didn’t.

Curators intentionally design spaces to be beautiful, thoughtful and meaningful. They curate objects or items purposefully, creating an intentional experience. They mindfully choose items to best tell the story.

I became a curator, asking myself again and again:

• What’s important and what do I need or want to keep in my life?
• What can I let go of today or what do I need to release?
• Where can I make space for what’s yet to come into my life?

And now, it’s hello, 2022

So what’s next for me? The narrative of living lighter remains: I’ll continue to declutter and clear physical spaces and the calendars. There’s more work to be done here, to simplify and reprioritize, to continue to curate my life. And, I’ll keep my grip soft and invite in the new as well.

My intention for 2022, my word, is mindful. The year 2022 beckons with the invitation to be a student of my own mind, to be intentional, and to keep carving away the unnecessary, making room for the essential.

As you say hello, 2022 …

What narrative will you name? How will you set mindful intentions?

May you step lightly into 2022, experiencing grace in the in-between-ness. May you sense God’s presence drawing you closer to him. And may you feel the call of your very own narrative pulling you deeper into your story.

The post Hello, 2022! appeared first on Elaine Junge, Writer & Blogger.

If 2020 felt like a whitewater kayak ride, as it did (see Reflecting on 2020: A Year of Change). Then, 2021 has been more of traveler’s journey.

As I began the year, in Lighten up 2021, I spoke of deep processing of our first pandemic year — and heavy expectations pressuring my heart for 2021. I felt God saying to me, to us, to:

Remember this, 
You're meant to travel lightly,
Rest your body and soul,
And live your purpose
In small daily and tiny steps.

I felt as if I’d been climbing forever

And, I needed rest. Oh, how I needed rest.

And so I set out at a steady pace, determined not to rush or push 2021 one bit. But to let the journey unfold, one tiny step at a time.

I realized, I must resist old patterns over-thinking and of making things harder than they need to be. I needed to clear out the clutter of the prior year, and even years prior.

And so I set my intentions to traveling lightly

The words are right there for me to see, the “traveling lightly” way. “Rest your body and soul, and live your purpose in small daily, tiny steps.”

If we’re traveling lightly, resting, and living our purpose each day, we’re going the right way. We’re on the path.

I determined to step lightly forward, all year, reminding myself and us, again and again, to find our own rhythm and pace.

And now, we stand on the threshold of 2022.

Like travelers, we’ve reached a natural place to stop for a bit and explore the vistas of the path behind. We are at a plateau, a small resting place, a bench on which to sit and reflect.

Here, as we prepare to enter 2022, let’s pause to notice how far we’ve come. Let’s ask ourselves good questions about our journey and the threshold in which we stand.

Transitions are reflection opportunities

In these short days as one year ends and another begins, we’re in a liminal in-between place that invites contemplation. While insights may elude us, we can simply rest into this discomfort and keep asking good, curious questions.

As answers come, they’ll point the way forward.

Here are threshold questions for you

Always, a new year is a threshold. And, standing on the threshold invites us to examine the threshold where we stand. We look at what we’re leaving and where we’re entering.

If you want to travel lighter into 2022, consider questions such as:

1. Where did my journey take me in 2021? And what did I learn from the year?
2. What did I carry? And are there any burdens I can leave behind, so that I might travel lighter still? What must be carried forward and what do I want to carry forward?
3. Did I forget to pack anything that I might want to add for 2022?
4. Do I have the right traveling companions, ones that encourage and support me?
5. And, where do I see myself at the end of the year?

It’s a soft farewell, not a hard goodbye to 2021

Rest into these questions, my friend. And as you rest, let your shoulders drop and feel your breath slow again. Remember that you don’t need all of the answers right now. They’ll come, with time.

Let your load feel lighter, easier. Rest.

We stand at the threshold of new ventures

The journey continues into a new year. And, I’m realizing more and more that this is a lifelong journey, a wandering path ahead. In The Soul of a Pilgrim (a beautiful book by the way), Christine Valters Paintner says of her pilgrim journey:

“The inner pilgrim in me feels the call of moving outward. My inner pilgrim feels a longing to travel. She wants to walk across new landscapes and find herself a stranger. This helps me release what I know and enter into a deeper truth I can only find when I wander.”

Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul of a Pilgrim

We’re called to wander, on our journeys

The wandering traveler’s rhythm calms our minds and speaks to our hearts. It calls us to keep walking on, to continue to:

• Live our purpose,
• Rest and reflect,
• Take small daily and tiny steps forward,
• Enjoy the beauty around us,
• Rest more, and reflect,
• And, with a traveler’s mindset say our farewells and our hellos,
• With grateful hearts,
• As we go further up and further down the path.

“Wanderer, there is no way, the road is made by walking.”

Antonio Machado, Proverbios y Cantares

Hello, 2022!

The post Farewell, 2021 appeared first on Elaine Junge, Writer & Blogger.