A year in a day
Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us. ―Hal Borland
👥 Serves: 1–20 people
🎚 Difficulty: Easy
⏳ Total time: 1.5 hours
🥣 Ingredients: Pen and paper, a timer, Spotify playlist
💪 Nutritional values: Reflection, Appreciation, Self-awareness, Connection, Self-accountability
A year in a day
📝 Description
Using a 24-hour day to take stock of the past year and welcome the new year.
This recipe plays with the concept of a 24-hour day to invite nuanced reflection into the past year and intentional preparation for the new year. It is one of several recipes for end-of-year / new-year reflection processes we have – 4 steps to choosing your guiding word for the new year, End-of-year reflection, End-of-year spell casting. Mind mapping for a rewarding year, New Year’s Manifesto, and Year compass.
This activity can be done alone but we recommend doing it in a group (e.g. your team, your family, or your community) and it can be facilitated both in-person and online.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Welcome, framing & check-in (15’)
Welcome your participants and frame the activity as an opportunity to gather together, take stock of the year coming to a close and prepare for the new year. Share the flow for the activity and do a bit of social contracting (depending on the nature of your relationship). For instance, you may invite participants to honour the three C’s (suggested by Priya Parker):
- Courage: Acknowledge the vulnera-bravery that it takes for people to speak their minds and hearts.
- Compassion: Recognise the fear and pain that are part of the shared human experience.
- Connection: Sustain the energy that exists between you and others when you feel seen, heard, and valued.
Then invite people to check-in in small groups. Here’s a suggestion for a prompt: What is your favourite moment of the day and why?
Step 2 – Guidelines for the self-reflection (5’)
Guide people through a four-step reflection process. We have picked four specific times in a 24-hour day to invite a nuanced reflection. You will share a prompt every five minutes and participants will journal in silence. Each prompt will also be accompanied by a song.
If you are connecting online, remember to post the prompt in the chat box so they can read it again and remind participants that they can turn their webcam off if that’s more comfortable for them. And, if they get distracted by the song, they can lower the volume, but remind them to check the chat box every five minutes so they see the next prompt (since they might not hear your voice).
We also like to read a poem before starting the self-reflection process.
Step 3 – Zenith (6’)
Begin your reflection from the late morning, with a focus on a specific moment – the Zenith. This is the highest point reached by the sun as it travels around (or better, as it appears to travel around) planet Earth. It is when the sun is exactly above you. As a symbol, the Zenith represents the best or most successful point or time so that is where you shall begin. Invite participants to reflect on their Zenith from the past year: What are your high moments in the year coming to an end? Think about your successes, achievements, celebrations…
Recommended soundtrack: Zenith by I Awake (first song in the Spotify playlist).
Step 4 – Sunset (6’)
Move into the late afternoon and pay attention to a magical moment for many – the sunset. The sunset marks the time in the day when the sun disappears or daylight fades. It is often accompanied by awe-inspiring colours, from lilac purple to sunset orange and lavender. It marks the transition from day to night so it is a time of transformation. As a symbol, the sunset represents things ending so that new things may begin. Invite participants to journal on their sunset from the past year: What do you wish to sunset from the year coming to an end? Think about what you may wish to end, let go of, free yourself from…
Recommended soundtrack: Sunset by George Kopaliani (second song in the Spotify playlist).
Step 5 – New Moon (6’)
As the day makes way for the night, you find yourself in darkness because it’s a New Moon. This is the phase of the moon when it first appears as a slender crescent, shortly after its conjunction with the sun. The lunar risk is not visible to the naked eye, but this is when stars are most visible. As a symbol, a dark night speaks of your fears and tough moments, but you can also look up to the stars to find solace and guidance as your vision is impaired. Invite participants to reflect on their New Moon from the past year: What are your low moments from the year coming to an end? Think about what has been tough, what has drained you, what has challenged you… But also think about the wisdom gained from these experiences…
Recommended soundtrack: New Moon (The Meadow) by Martin Jacoby (third song in the Spotify playlist).
Step 6 – Sunrise (6’)
You move into the last moment of the day, when the night makes space for the day to return. It is another magical moment – the sunrise. The sunrise marks the time in the morning when the sun appears or full daylight arrives. Like the sunset, it is often accompanied by jaw-dropping colours, from different shades of pink, orange, and red. As a symbol, the sunrise represents new beginnings and new possibilities. Invite participants to journal on their sunrise in the coming year: What do you wish to manifest in the new year? Think about what you may wish to start, make space for, explore…
Recommended soundtrack: Sunrise by Robert Michaels (third song in the Spotify playlist).
Step 7 – Small group sharing (30’)
Divide participants into triads and give them around 25 minutes to share a bit about their reflections. Suggested prompts:
- What do the zenith, sunset, and new moon tell us about the year you’ve just had?
- What does the sunrise promise about the new year you wish to have?
Step 8 – Large group harvesting (20’)
Gather everyone and open a space for them to share a few impressions on this reflection process. Suggested prompt: What did you gain from this process? Then wrap up the activity with a few closing remarks (we like to read a poem to close the session).