Offering a Winter Solstice Journaling & Collage Workshop this Saturday
Close out the year with some cozy reflection and creativity
Hi newsletter friends!
Well, here we are, the last week of 2024. I posted an Instagram story poll mid-October asking folks how they were feeling about approaching the end of the year. I was feeling pretty done and ready to skip head to December and hibernate…surprisingly, the majority of folks were feeling like they were not ready for the end and there was more to do.
So how are you feeling now? Did you get all the things done? Are you ready to release whatever isn’t done?
During the Winter Solstice, I have a personal practice of reflecting on the year to metaphorically close the book on it. I comb through my journal entries, scroll through photos in my camera roll, and revisit events in my calendar, to take an overhead view of what I experienced. I try to answer the question, “What the heck happened this year?”
Sometimes, I see accomplishments that I didn’t give myself enough credit for, but when seeing them as a list I think, “Oh yeah, I DID all that!” Other times, I get a long view of experiences that once felt so painful or directionless and find comfort in the healing or insights that came later—outcomes I could never have imagined at the time.
While journaling this Solstice, I saw how I entered the year with clear intentions about how I wanted to shape 2024, but I came away with many surprises about how 2024 shaped me instead. It’s given me a nice sense of closure. I feel more refreshed and hopeful so I can relax before resetting the clock on the new year.
In recent years, I’ve integrated digital collage into my journaling practice, combining my love for self-reflection and visual storytelling. This inspired me to create a workshop called Transmuting the Year, which I tested last week with an intimate group of my studiomates. The experience was cozy, fun, and heartwarming.
I’m excited to offer this workshop to a wider online audience one more time before the year ends! If you’d love some cozy, gentle guidance to reflect on your year and create meaningful personal art, join me this Saturday for the online version of Transmuting the Year: A Collage and Journaling Workshop.
Date: Saturday Dec 28, 2024
Time: 9am-12pm PST
Location: Zoom (online)
Workshop Description:
In this cozy online Winter Solstice-inspired workshop, we’ll embark on a reflective journey to honor and transform the past year. Together, we’ll begin by collecting your 2024 memories and use a 5 element framework to organize them. Then, using the Shuffles app, you’ll create a digital collage that visually tells the story of your year and sets the stage for new dreams in 2025. We’ll close with guided journaling prompts to reflect on your collage and the themes of your year. Optional sharing at the end provides a space to connect and celebrate together. Join us for a creative and meaningful way to close out the year!
I’m excited to share this workshop as I continue to explore the blend of personal reflection and expressive art-making. To make it accessible to a wide audience, I’m offering it on a sliding scale (no one will be turned away for lack of funds). My hope is to create a cozy, supportive space for slowing down and finding a sense of creative closure. Since this is also an experiment for me, your participation and feedback will be invaluable in helping me refine and evolve my teaching strategies.
Here’s what some folks have said about the workshop already:
“A great visual process to kickstart a journaling practice.”
“Such a fun way of reflecting on the year, and I loved the combination of mediums that really allowed me to sink in and appreciate the year in both a visual and linguistic way. It inspired me to create a new practice of reflection using more visual elements which I'm so excited about!! 🥰🥰”
“A fun and chill way to do the work, or at least get started on the work of closing the year and deep-cleaning my mind lol”
🎟️ Here is the Eventbrite link to register. This private workshop is designed to be interactive and live, so recordings will not be available. However, registered participants will receive access to a Notion page that includes the exercises, journaling prompts, and key takeaways to revisit at your own pace.
That’s all for now, dear readers. I’m wishing you a safe, healthy, restorative end of the year, and I’ll see you again in 2025.
Till next time,
Annie
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