As each year comes to a close and a new year springs forth, an opportunity to reflect, dissect and come to peace with the year past is gifted to us. Within this reflection, we are also given the chance to eagerly anticipate the year ahead, our goals, desires, and what we imagine the new year has the possibility of holding for us. While the common jargon encourages us to create resolutions, I believe there are other avenues in which we can create a year that’s full of intention and momentum that fulfill aspects within ourselves beyond just an external goal.  

In society at large, we are so focused on goals and action-oriented tasks that lead to an end result. With so much emphasis and focus on where we are going, there can be less of a desire to slow down and really emphasize the why in what it is we are creating. While goals and action plans are a successful strategy in achieving our desires, the energy that goes behind those goals is just as important. 

An intention as I see it is a way in which we move. With conviction and diligence, it encapsulates our entire being and leads us in a direction that’s full of purpose and alignment. To put it even more simply, it’s something we do with our whole hearts. When an intention is pure, it aligns with something much deeper in us than cannot be defined into arbitrary terms. When it comes to setting resolutions for the New Year, we often have a specific set goal in mind, like I’m going to eat healthy, I’m going to earn this amount of money, or I’m going to stop x, y, and z habit. But how about crafting the way in which we want to feel in the upcoming year? How do we want the relationship with ourselves to be? Or how do we want to show up in our communities? When we start to open up to asking the right kinds of questions, more about our actual desires can be revealed. 

With all the challenges, pain, uncertainty, and hardship we are facing as a collective, being intentional with what we create and the direction we are going as an individual is not an option anymore. That’s why I propose instead of our typical resolutions, we intentionally sculpt our 2022. Getting in tune with your senses and what you desire for the year to come could look like slowing down, journaling, taking a day to yourself, and sitting with your own thoughts. Take time to reflect on the year past, and what were the highs and what were the lows. With that given data, take the time to visualize the year to come. How do you want the year to feel for you, if you really started going for what you wanted in life? How would that look, and what are small steps you can take towards that desired reality? Allow yourself to dream, and be creative with this process. At the end of the day, the one person who is always going to have our back is ourselves. Being intimate with our life and life’s goals through intention creates a connection with ourselves that stays with us no matter what life may bring. Wishing you all a very happy and blessed New Year.