A Gentle Start
A gentle welcome warms any soul…why not welcome the new year the same way? Let it come to us, and let us embrace it.
The gray rain taps on the window and creates a dreary start to the new year, but it contrasts with the spirit in my heart. Leftover Christmas cookies and twinkling lights still grace our home, and I find myself thankful for this little life. Contentment permeates the air.
Perhaps it’s because all the hustle to prepare for the long holiday is over—the busy days that come with being a mother of four, making sure to spend quality time with both sides of my family, traveling, hosting, and everything in between. It all went well. And now, it’s done.
We can rest in a job well done, a year completed, a holiday managed. Picking up a book, clearing out a closet, reorganizing my overstocked coffee mug shelf—these are things I might actually have time to do. And I am grateful for it.
Mostly, I’m happy because my family is happy. We spent New Year’s Eve in a quiet way—making fun food and playing games with our youngest two children. The older ones were off with their friends, creating memories with their people that I’m sure they’ll remember forever. I know I did. My husband and I rested and invested in the little souls that still wanted to spend the holiday with us. It was lovely.
An old friend of ours, whom we cherish, stopped by, and we rang in the new year with him, his wife, and his sister. He humored me by playing Auld Lang Syne on the piano, giving me an old-fashioned welcome to the new year. For a moment, it felt like we had brought a piece of the past into our present, right there around our old (and most likely out-of-tune) piano.
I had wrestled all day with whether or not to host a party. But after being so busy, we needed the rest. Next year, I’ll be ready to throw one. This year, our souls needed it to look different. And that’s okay. I’m thankful for leaning into that knowing.
And now the new year has arrived, it’s time to make those New Year’s resolutions. But before I can even think of a new goal or mindset for 2025, I have to reflect on the year.
What worked? What didn’t? What brought me joy, and what brought me toil? In her most recent book, How to Walk Into a Room, Emily P. Freeman asks, “What are your best yeses? And your best no’s?” I love these questions because they help us focus on something that doesn’t always come naturally but serves us well. When did we honor our truest selves—and how can we keep doing that? The answer is to know what it felt like in the first place.
My hope for you this day, month, season, and year, my friend, is that you take time to reflect on the best ways you loved others and yourself—so you can continue doing those things in the future. That’s how we create a wonderful life, one rooted in the authentic place of who you are, who you were made to be, and the spaces you were meant to love.
May you find so much hope in how far you’ve come reflecting on what’s been and so much joy in the welcoming of what awaits you. Cheers dear one, cheers. May your new year, be gentle and blessed beyond measure.
XO,
Jenna
"And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been."
— Rainer Maria Rilke
