Mid-Annus Meditate, Reflect, & Reset Writing Ritual
Congrats, we're halfway into 2023. Get out your pen and paper.
Hello friends, creatures of The Lagoon! As we begin the second half of the year, I invite you to join me in reflecting on and resetting annual intentions.
But Mid-Annus? What is annus? Annus is “year” in Latin.
Let’s take stock of the year so far and envision the wins for the rest of the year. Of course, the universe may laugh at your plans, but hey, you could also laugh at the universe!
So, grab a notebook or a legal pad and open to a fresh page. Get out your favorite pen. Make a cup of tea or pop a fizzy libation. I also suggest using separate pages for the lengthier prompts in part two in case you want to tear them out and pin them to your wall, or BURN them! Muahaha.
If you prefer to type on a computer, that’s fine too. No wrong way to journal.
Likewise, this doesn’t need to be done in one sitting. You can spread it over the week but try to do the short meditation each time. A little extra meditation never hurt nobody!
Plus, today, July 3rd, 2023, is a full moon in Capricorn (my sun sign), so consider some lunar journaling and reflection if your schedule allows it. The Capricorn moon is said to harken emotional, spiritual, and material growth.
Let’s begin.
Prime the Mind:
First, I offer you a short meditation using the mantra “I am That.” In this context, That can mean the larger energy field, the world around you, the world within you, your ancestors, the universe, or whatever you want, a higher power, the God from the Bible, a leaf, the sky, etc.
Find a comfortable spot either laying on your back or seated and set a timer for 10 minutes. Close your eyes. Breathe slowly in and out. On each inhale, think “I am,” and on each exhale, think “That.”
Repeat this mantra in time with your breath for 10 minutes with your eyes closed. You can play instrumental music if that helps you focus. If you live somewhere without swarms of bloodthirsty mosquitos, try this outside, seated on the earth.
Now, let the mid-annus written reflections begin!
The Quickies:
Write one word to encapsulate the year so far.
Write one word to represent the rest of the year.
Write one sentence about what you’re most grateful for this year to date. *Looking back through your phone’s camera roll is one way to help do this if nothing comes to mind immediately.
Write two more things you’re grateful for so far.
Write one thing you’re looking forward to in the 2nd half of the year.
Write three positive and affirming sentences beginning with “The 2nd half of 2023 will be…” Then read these statements aloud. Write the same sentences down one more time and read them to yourself once more.
The next part of the reset, below, is my adaptation of an activity suggested in the book Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free, by Terri Cole, public speaker, author, and psychotherapist.
I recently finished her book and really enjoyed it. Learned a lot about codependency, radical honesty, and personal boundaries. If you’re feeling less than confident in your personal relationships, I recommend giving it a read. Or, she has TONS of helpful, free YouTube content.
Deep Dive into the Annus:
Section off 11 pages.
At the top of each page, write one of the following categories as a header:
Home and Environment
Work
Finances
Family
Mind Body Health
Personal Boundaries and Confidence
(This can be about where you stood up for yourself, or conversely, when you felt taken advantage of.)
Beliefs and Opinions
Possessions
Communication
(meaning your own ways of communicating, as well as types of communications you’d like more or less of.)
Friends
Fun Times and Leisure
Romantic Love and Sex
Under each category, make the sub-category of “Going Great!” and brain-dump everything that is working really well for you in the areas listed. List any recent “wins” in these categories. For example, you might write under Friends, “I love my friendship with Rochanda.”
Once you do this for each category, create a new subheading titled “I Deserve Better.” Under this heading for each area, jot down ONE and only one thing you would like to fix or improve. This is a thing that is “not ok” for you at the moment. It could be simple like, “My house has mold.” Or it could be deeper and more rooted in emotion, like “I get upset when friends don’t text me back.”
For whatever Deserve Better item you write down, make a suggestion or two as to how to begin clearing this concern. Write your tactic in a way that is clear, within your scope of control, and actionable. For example, under Communication, I might write, “I feel irritated when Mr. Employee takes a long time to respond to my texts.” And my solution might be, “Call Mr. Employee instead of sending texts.” But I wouldn’t write, “Make Mr. Employee text me back faster,” because that really isn’t within my scope of control and it’s also vague. Though I might write, “Talk to Mr. Employee about their lack of timely response. Let them know your expectations around acceptable response times. If no improvement after a few reminders, fire Mr. Employee.”
Try and keep things simple and positive.
INTERMISSION
This is a lot of writing, so maybe take a pause here.
Part 2 of the Deep Dive:
Return to your pages and under each area of “I deserve better,” list the gains you’d receive in the coming months if you make each improvement.
Optional: Go back through your Deserve Better actions and copy them onto a single sheet. Hang this page somewhere and slowly check the items off once they’re completed, or schedule the items on your calendar or to-do list.
I hope this adds value to your life! And I hope you have a wonderful rest of the year and a wonderful full moon.
Now You
Do you have any mid-year rituals?
Any favorite notebooks?
Share your “word” for part 1 of 2023 and your “word” for part 2 with me in the comments.
Or feel free to share something you are grateful for this year.
My word for part 1 was “Spirit” and my word for part 2 is “Strength.” And I’m grateful that I was able to spend three days last week at the fabulous Manasota Key Beach with my daughter and a close friend.
Thanks for reading!
XXXOOO
Charlotte Dune
Mostly ideas regarding humanity's future and our conscious evolution (how we can deliberately plan our progress with an eye on optimizing functionality and sustainability and not losing sight of what it means to be human). It's a meta-discipline covering all aspects of society. In taking such a broad view, though, patterns begin to emerge, and things are revealed to be very interdependent. After having spent several years at this, I'm at that time where it seems to be coming together for me. Thank you for asking ;)
2023 was intended to be about "consistency." It has clearly transitioned mid-year to "synthesis." Years of analytical study are coming together and new ideas and new ways of thinking are emerging for me. This time I didn't choose this focus; it seems to have found me.