End of Year Reflection

IN TODAY’S EDITION

THE SHIFT

As a warning, I chose the kind of questions that sting a little. I didn’t want this to be a generic reflection session. The purpose is to ask questions that challenge our assumptions, reveal our blind spots, and push us toward growth.  

Don’t worry there are several heart warming questions too. 

I invite you to take a moment for yourself. Get out a pen and paper. Choose a quiet moment—on a plane heading home for the holidays, curled up by the fire, or during an afternoon of solitude. 

You don’t need to tackle everything. Instead, pick three questions that resonate with you the most and spend some time reflecting on them.  

Take your time with each question you choose. Let it settle. This isn’t about judgment, fixing or criticizing yourself, but understanding—gently peeling back the layers to uncover deeper truths. What comes to mind immediately might be one thing, but the real insights often emerge when we linger, when we sit with our answers, and when we let curiosity guide us. Use each question as a jumping off point and continue to ask yourself ‘why’ something is the way it is until you feel like you’ve uncovered an important truth. 

I’d love to hear what surfaces for you if you’re willing to share! 

• What pattern has kept repeating in the last year? What are you noticing about that? 

• What has been gnawing at you but you remain in a state of paralysis?

• If you were brutally honest with yourself, what have you been ignoring that needs attention? 

• What are you pretending not to know? And what is it costing you? 

• Are you actively working toward becoming the person you say you want to be? If so how? If not, what’s getting in the way? 

• How are you complicit in creating the conditions you say you don’t want?

• What’s your formula to get “unstuck” when you’re feeling stuck on something?

• Where am you feeling the most resistance in your life? 

• If you had to name the emotion that dominated your year, what was it? What does that reveal about how you're living?

• Which of your 'personality traits' might actually be coping mechanisms from past experiences?

• Which relationship in your life evolved the most this year, and what contributed to that change?

• What belief about yourself has become a self-fulfilling prophecy?

• What do you consistently complain about but haven't taken concrete steps to change?

• What unexpected emotion or perspective surfaced this year that made you question your assumptions about yourself?

• What unspoken expectations are creating tension in your important relationships?

• What do you actually care about not what you think you should care about? 

• In what areas of your life are you still waiting for permission?

• What emotion do you judge yourself for feeling, and where did you learn it wasn't acceptable?

• What new skill or knowledge did you acquire this year that you’re proud of?

• What aspects of your identity feel like they're in transition right now?

• What is a conversation you had this year with someone close to you that shifted your perspective, drew you closer, or gave you a deeper appreciation for who they are? What made it so impactful?

• What happen this year that made you think "Yes, this is who I want to be more often"?

• What new belief about yourself emerged this year that feels expansive and true? How can you nurture this belief?

• What experience filled your soul and lifted your spirit this year? 

• What legacy, no matter how small, did you contribute this year that you hope to carry forward?

THE ESSENTIALS
This section includes relevant resources, articles, videos, people to check out, and links to strengthen your psychological resilience and emotional intelligence.

• This is Water: David Foster Wallace‘s 2005 commencement speech to the graduating class at Kenyon College is a timeless trove of wisdom. Wallace hits on our need to manage rather than remove our core hard-wired human instincts.

• The Wheel of Awareness: Dr. Dan Siegel believes that daily "mind training" could be the key to health and happiness, which is why he created the "Wheel of Awareness" practice, detailed in his New York Times bestselling book Aware. This practice, designed to illuminate the nature of consciousness, divides it into three parts: the hub of knowing, the rim of the known, and the spoke of attention. Dr. Siegel emphasizes that mind training practices like this one are crucial for addressing chronic pain and improving overall well-being.

• Take In The Good: This exercise, developed by Dr. Rick Hanson, is a mindfulness practice aimed at cultivating positive mental habits and emotional resilience. The exercise involves focusing on positive experiences—whether big or small—and actively "taking them in" to create lasting changes in the brain. By savoring positive moments and allowing them to sink in, you reinforce feelings of safety, happiness, and contentment. This practice helps counterbalance the brain's natural tendency to focus on negativity, promoting greater emotional well-being and a more optimistic outlook on life.
  

THE GALLERY
A curated collection of moving art, poems that resonate, stories that illuminate transformational frameworks, and ideas that spark wonder.

The Sacred Practice of Hospitality 

I experienced a moment this week that made me think of the Biblical passage “τῆς φιλοξενίας μὴ ἐπιλανθάνεσθε, διὰ ταύτης γὰρ ἔλαθόν τινες ξενίσαντες ἀγγέλους." Rough translation form the Greek: "Be not forgetful of hospitality to strangers, for some people have entertained angels without knowing it." 

A stranger gave a generous gift to a single mother of three kids who was only able to take one day off work this holiday season. She didn’t show it, and continued to humbly work but she was doing everything she could to keep her family afloat. The gift was simple, yet deeply impactful—an unexpected moment of grace that eased her burden.

The concept of sacred hospitality represents one of humanity's most profound and enduring ethical principles. Far beyond mere social courtesy, it embodies what philosopher Emmanuel Levinas called "the ethical encounter with the face of the Other" – a moment of divine recognition in human form.

The Greek concept of "φιλοξενίας" (philoxenia) beautifully captures this tradition's essence. Unlike modern notions of hospitality, philoxenia literally means "love of the stranger," combining "philos" (love) and "xenos" (stranger/foreigner). 

This radical openness to the unknown visitor appears repeatedly in Classical mythology, where Zeus himself often traveled disguised as a beggar, testing mortals' hearts through their treatment of strangers. 

The Abrahamic traditions echo this theme. The Torah presents Abraham's tent as perpetually open on all four sides, welcoming visitors from every direction. His hospitality to three mysterious strangers (Genesis 18) became a foundational text for both Jewish and Christian understanding of sacred hospitality. 

Islamic tradition particularly venerates Ibrahim for this quality, with the Qur'an emphasizing hospitality is a core virtue.

In Hindu tradition, the Sanskrit phrase "Atithi Devo Bhava" ("the guest is God") elevates hospitality to a spiritual discipline. 

And the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) represents perhaps the most refined ritualization of hospitality in human culture, where host and guest create together what tea master Sen no Rikyū called "ichi-go ichi-e" – a unique moment that can never be repeated.

Today's global challenges - migration, displacement, growing isolation - make sacred hospitality more relevant than ever. 

Philosopher Jacques Derrida argued that true hospitality must maintain an element of risk, of openness to the unexpected. This echoes Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching that "the essence of hospitality is making space - in your home, in your heart, in your mind."

Hospitality is a state of spirit and a call to vulnerability.

Whether you believe in a higher power or not, this principle points to the mystery and possibility in every encounter.

When you practice sacred hospitality, you align yourself with a timeless principle that transcends cultures and religions: the recognition of shared humanity and the divine spark in everyone. 

Through welcoming others, we ourselves are changed, our capacity for recognition and reverence expanded.