Closing the Year With Wonder

As the year draws to a close, reflection can begin to feel natural.
But it doesn’t need to feel heavy, urgent, or full of expectation.

You don’t need a long list of achievements.
You don’t need a clear narrative.
You don’t need to reinvent yourself before midnight on 31 December.

Instead, you might choose a gentler way of looking back —
through wonder.

Wonder doesn’t demand answers.
It invites noticing.

You might reflect on:

• What surprised you

• What softened you

• What taught you something quietly

• What you noticed more deeply than before

• What helped you breathe a little easier

Even in difficult years, moments of wonder often exist — small, fleeting, sometimes almost missed. A pause. A connection. A moment of steadiness in the middle of uncertainty.

These moments don’t erase the hard parts.
But they often sit alongside them, offering quiet support.

As you move toward a new year, you might choose to carry just one of these moments with you. Something that reminds you that growth doesn’t always look dramatic or visible — and that learning can happen even when life feels messy or unresolved.

The new year doesn’t ask you to become someone new.
It simply invites you to step forward with the truth of who you already are.

A gentle journal prompt

What moment of wonder from this year would I like to carry with me into the next?

You don’t need to write much.
A word, an image, or a feeling is enough.

Sometimes, that’s how we begin again — softly.