The Light We Carried: A Year in Spiritual Retrospect
A gentle, cross-cultural reflection on the truths, awakenings, and inner light of the past year.
There is a kind of quiet that only December knows. It’s not the quiet of silence or emptiness — it’s the quiet of settling. A soft exhale after a year of holding so much. A slowing that invites us inward. A pause that feels almost sacred if we let it.
Every December, this quiet nudges me to look back — not for achievement, not for productivity metrics, not to evaluate whether I “kept up”… but to remember. To reflect. To acknowledge the places I stretched, softened, healed, resisted, surrendered, and grew. This year, that reflection feels especially tender. Because now I understand something I didn’t always know. The year is shaped just as much by what was illuminated as by what remained in the dark.
Looking Back Through a Spiritual Lens
Back when winter felt more like heaviness than invitation, I never paused long enough to consider the spiritual arc of my year. I only wanted the light back — the long days, the sun on my skin, the sense of forward movement. But now I understand the rhythm.
Winter pulls me inward.
Spring draws me forward.
Summer expands me.
Fall deepens me.
And winter calls me home.
That cycle has shaped me this year more than any goal or milestone.
When I look back, the things that mattered were not the things the world celebrates — they were the quiet, interior shifts. The moments where I felt myself returning to my own truth. The days when clarity arrived like a whisper. The softness that emerged after something broke open. This is the light worth remembering.
The Spiritual Practice of Remembering
One of the things I’m learning in my current study through Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel and Qur’an is how central the concept of remembrance is across these sacred traditions.
In Judaism, zakhor means to remember as an act of sacred continuity.
In Christianity, remembrance is how the divine becomes present.
In Islam, dhikr — remembrance — is the practice of returning to the truth of the soul.
Across traditions, remembering isn’t about nostalgia — it’s spiritual. It’s a form of awakening. Reflecting on your year is not looking backward; it is looking deeper. The year becomes holy when we remember what it revealed.
A Cross-Cultural Way to Reflect on 2025
Instead of reviewing your year like a checklist, try reflecting through these doorways:
1. Japanese Ōmisoka. Letting go of what no longer belongs before the new year enters.
2. Celtic Wintering. Honoring the need to rest, root, and retreat.
3. Sufi Reflection. What did your longing reveal? What did your heart quietly ask for?
4. Buddhist Insight. Where did you see clearly for the first time?
5. African Ancestral Wisdom. Which ancestors or past versions of yourself stood beside you this year?
6. Navajo (Diné) Hózhó. Reflect on where you walked in harmony this year — and where balance, beauty, and alignment are calling you back home.
Midlife Retrospect: What This Season Reveals
Women in midlife often reflect differently than we did earlier in life. We look back not to judge ourselves — but to understand how our soul has been shaping us. In conversations with clients this year, I’ve heard women say:
“I don’t have patience for the old roles anymore.”
“I’m starting to feel like myself again.”
“My intuition is louder than ever.”
“I’m beginning to trust the parts of me I once ignored.”
And perhaps the most universal truth:
We no longer measure ourselves by what we achieved. We measure ourselves by what feels aligned.
Midlife is a spiritual season. And reflection is part of the initiation.
A Blessing for Looking Back
As you trace the arc of your year, may you do so with gentleness.
May you see not just what happened, but who you became.
May the moments that challenged you reveal the ways you grew.
May the moments that softened you show you where love entered.
May the light of remembrance guide you toward the truth of who you are.
Reflection Prompts for This Week
What did this year illuminate within you?
Where did you soften? Where did you awaken?
What are you ready to release as the year closes?
What blessing are you carrying forward into 2026?
Let your remembering be a form of reverence. This is how we honor the year — by honoring the woman we became within it.
If you didn’t catch last week’s article, it was all about winter’s invitation inward and the light we carry within. Here’s the link to read it: “The Season of Inner Light”
One Last Thing…
Over the past month, I realized a handful of my older articles were still pointing to my previous online shop—so if you ever clicked through and hit a dead link, that’s what was happening. Everything has now been updated with the correct link to hub.beingwellaware.com, where all of my guides live. Since many of you still find and read these earlier pieces, I’m going to highlight a couple of them over the next few weeks so you don’t miss the resources tucked inside.
COMT Unmasked: Why COMT Is the Hidden Lever in Perimenopause
If you’ve ever felt like stress hits differently in midlife—or like caffeine, alcohol, or estrogen land in your body in new ways—COMT might be the missing link. This article breaks down this often-overlooked gene in a simple, empowering way and includes a guide to help you explore your own patterns.
MTHFR Unlocked: Ignite Your Midlife Methylation Power
MTHFR plays a key role in energy, detox, inflammation, and hormone balance. In this piece, I simplify what methylation really means for women in perimenopause and menopause, without fear or overwhelm. If you want clarity and practical support, this one’s a great place to start.