Welcoming a New Year, Gently

At times, being wished a “happy” new year can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re carrying something that feels unbearable. There can be an unspoken expectation to be okay, to stay hopeful, to move forward as if your life hasn’t been divided into a before and an after.

For many people who are grieving, the turn of the calendar doesn’t feel like a celebration. It can feel like being asked to begin again before you’re ready, before you’ve even had time to catch your breath.

The new year often arrives with a lot of noise. Conversations about fresh starts, resolutions, and progress can make it seem as though movement is required. But grief doesn’t follow timelines. Loss doesn’t reset because the calendar changes. Healing is not the same as “moving on.”

If you’re entering this year while grieving, you are not falling behind.

If part of you feels unsure, hesitant, or apprehensive about what this year holds, nothing is wrong with you.

You can seek moments of relief while still mourning what you’ve lost.

You can continue healing while staying connected to what you’ve lost.

Both can coexist.

Welcoming a new year doesn’t have to mean leaving anything behind. It doesn’t have to come with optimism or resolutions. Sometimes it simply means acknowledging where you are and letting that be enough.

This year might be about getting through the day.It might be about learning how to live in a changed world.It might be about finding moments of rest wherever possible.

You don’t need a resolution.

You don’t need a word.

You don’t need a plan.

It’s enough to take this year as it comes, one day at a time. One choice at a time. One breath at a time.

However this year finds you, I hope you find your people. The ones willing to sit beside you in the wilderness, to witness your grief, and to stay.

Here with you,

Jacquie