As we wind down to say farewell to yet another year, it can be a powerful ritual to reflect upon the takeaways and gifts from the past twelve months and previous years, even.

For many it was another tough and challenging year, but with challenges we also have opportunity for growth.

Losses come with gains and emotional depths expand our breadth of compassion and creative expression.

Even death is not an end. It’s a transformation into a new form and way.

While many things may feel final and gut wrenching to the core, these experiences are doorways to embrace more.

The final New Moon of 2024 is today and it’s in the sign of Capricorn making it an opportune time for looking at the habits and patterns you would like to release that drain you of your energy and life force – making it hard or impossible to invest energy into the things you really do want to focus on. This is a time for making room for new experiences and releasing yourself from any type of unhealthy bondage.

It’s also a great time to declare making an idea or desire you’ve long been coveting, into a committed intention for follow-through. Capricorn assists the building and anchoring of goals, yet asks for initiating greater responsibility, courage, and dedication.

Reimagining has been a word that keeps popping up for me in theme for this new cycle. Perhaps it might speak to you too. It’s about envisioning and forming fresh and creative ideas about the way things could be.

And reinventing has accompanied this, where I take the new ideas and visions and begin the implementation of steps to completely transform one or more parts of life.

Everyone will have a different version of what this means for them. For some it might be a different way of feeling about something or doing something that feels hard or scary because you know it will do you good to get over that hump, and for others it might be a whole new life transition. Perhaps it’s even as simple as asking for help, where normally you take everything on yourself to your own demise, or tell yourself it’s not that important because you’ve become accustomed to just dealing with the way things are. One small and timely change or cracking open of the door can be a game changer.

However this translates for you, the energies support momentum toward manifesting a desired goal.

So, what calls to you or has been nudging you over and over?

Maybe this is a year you finally decide to do what you’ve always dreamed of, no matter how scary it might seem now. The energies support big changes and courageous hearts to envision a better future.

For myself, as I’ve already shared, I have a whole new focus and life vision I’m/we’re (Dave and I) putting into motion, which includes both professional and personal aspects. And I intend to do the things I have wanted to with a courageous heart and no more excuses.

Tying up and winding down things to make space for it all has been a process, but feels really good. Saying “no” and “yes” has felt even better these days and will continue to, as I draw more lines and show up bigger for my desires.

For me, the new year kicks off on my birthday in February, since that ignites a #1 year personally. However, Dave and I are already putting in motion plans for bigger lifestyle experiences.

There are a lot of things that go into making changes for sure, but if you just focus on one step at a time, it’s not so overwhelming.

I make an overall list of my big goals and then I make an accompanying list of the steps needed to achieve them, which I then cross off as I complete them. The immediate step list makes things less overwhelming and more digestible. Some things I leave open-ended in time and others I have a date in mind.

I’ve learned that for some things in my life, if I don’t make a hard line on things I may become lax on it. So, I allow myself the space where I know things need more creative flow and I tighten up where I know tough love actually helps me.

Learn what works for you and your process.

You might feel called to create a more formal ritual for this New Moon end-of-year closure. Or, you can simply follow what ever the day inspires.

Sometimes speaking your intents out loud or even sharing them with someone else, can help to make them more official. It’s not really about just doing this kind of thing at the end of the year, but you can make rituals and intentions part of your daily life adventures.

I’ll be sharing more about the big shifts taking place in the coming year as they unfold, but for now I’ll share a walk as seen through the windows of my soul since last I wrote, interlaced with thoughts and messages each experience brought through that might speak to you as themes for the year to come.

The first being the themes of Kindness and Tenderness.

On the 18th we took a walk by the lake, near sunset and Nature’s reflections all around me spoke of these words to my heart.

You can feel the essence and meaning of these words in the landscape and color frequencies emanating from the sunset while breathing in the tenderness.

It doesn’t take much to make an impact. Small acts of kindness go along way – even farther than you’ll ever know, nor need to.

A simple smile, hello, or telling someone they’re beautiful or that you appreciate them can change the course of that person’s life just when they need it most.

You might never know how your little bit of heartfelt compassion will affect someone, but doing something “just because” is where the most value is.

Only the ego needs to understand the result.

The higher self and heart already know the intrinsic value that goes without mention.

May these seeds of love and hope kindle within us all and may we all be reminded that even the smallest acts of kindness can be life changing.

We never know what even just an acknowledgement or thank you can do for someone at the perfect moment, right?

Remembering to view each other in reflection of connection helps us open our hearts even more.

That same night we found bear poop in front of our garage, which felt both like a profound blessing and sign that bear guardian has marked our home with protection. It felt also like bear is infusing vitality and courage into the changes we’re embracing for our life ahead – particularly for me with the new I’m embarking upon.

The next morning coyote was hanging out for ten minutes tracking something in the snow just behind our house.

We watched from the window, as this messenger continues to grace our lives like bear.

In fact, coyotes have been on a huge uptick, as that same night a pack was so close to the house loudly yipping and howling in a fog that came up in the late afternoon. This fog covered the lake fully and was completely immersing everything by the time we got home in the early evening and into the night. The fog lingered well into the first part of the next day as well. There was definitely a Cosmic component to the messengers and the energy lingering in the air.

This followed an uncanny tire incident that both myself and a close friend of mine, who is part of some of the upcoming changes, had on the very same day, just an hour or two apart in different states. Both of us got a nail in our tire. All was fine, safe, and worked out easily for us both. A sign of adapting, becoming even more resilient, and taking things slow to make sure all is in alignment.

We both continued to have coyote experiences following that, and wild turkey encounters (I’ll share later) all at the same time too. These indicating a storyline of messages being sent from Cosmic connections we share on the bigger picture of it all.

And the nights and mornings following, coyotes would continue to wake me up with their howling in the wee hours of the night behind the house and in the morning while having breakfast. This continued on Winter Solstice with them greeting us upon returning home that day from our outings, the next morning, and on the 23rd concluded with two coyotes crossing our path while hiking with Dave’s mom, at the same time a pack was howling from across the lake we were walking by in the middle of the day.

My friend and I have concluded that there’s a portal by me that is connected with cosmic energies streaming through the coyotes as messengers that mirror a hand stitching project she just created of two coyotes.

Art coming to life.

I know not everyone sees or experiences animals or other things in the same way as I do, but I share stuff like this and how it ties in or my personal take-aways, as it might resonate with how and when you have similar kinds of experiences. In this way, receiving your own guidance, message, or confirmation that you might otherwise overlook. Especially if you’ve been wondering about something in your life or even asked for an answer or inspiration.

You receive messages in a variety of ways. Not just the way you think or want it to come. But you are being supported and answered always.

A series of rainbows were also prevalent for us – the most we’ve seen all at once in a long time.

The first igniting the morning of Winter Solstice, followed by a double rainbow that same afternoon that grew in intensity and size while we drove home. Dave snapped this next one through my window as the driver. As we turned on the highway we ended up with the double rainbows right in front of us and filling the sky.

And a couple more rainbows followed, leading up to Christmas.

The intense double one, which I didn’t capture in its fullest because I was driving, reminded me literally of the kind of rainbow you’d follow to a pot of gold at the end of it that a lucky leprechaun might lead you to.

That was the image I got, at least. And it did feel like a promise to our collective future.

The day after Solstice we visited a hot springs in the alpine valley that we never have before, about an hour and a half from our home.

The grounds were wild and beautiful with paths through the forest to get to the pools and views of the valley to enjoy.

The facility that is also a small hotel was quaint and cozy, inviting us in to unwind for the day.

It was a really great way to anchor in the shift of seasons and that bear energy of luxuriating in the sacred domain of the soul.

Winter ignites a peaceful withdrawal into the sacred spaces within.

It’s a space of listening, not resisting.

Where you follow the inner rhythms and embrace the loud stillness that beckons you to reimagine your world.

This is a time and place of tender keeping to surrender to the gentle unfolding of your truth to emerge.

At the hot springs we immersed in relaxing and letting go of everything else, but being in the nurturing waters and brisk, clean air.

I especially enjoyed the cycles of moving between the 112 degree pool and the 43 degree tub under the silent Temple Dome. I was the only one of us who was able to fully immerse in the cold water and be in it for any longer period. I sat in it for thirty to forty-five second slow counts at a time. It was invigorating and became almost addictive in feeling. I would match my thoughts and body to be one with the water with slow breath and embrace. Then return to the hot pool.

There was a warm pool of about 98 to 100 degrees that we spent the longer runs in on floaties, just relaxing and talking.

The rest of our day was spent walking the grounds, enjoying a delicious vegan meal in the onsite restaurant of miso mushroom soups and vegan grilled cheese sandwiches, followed by lounging by the old fashioned wood stove enjoying tea and home made vegan biscotti our friends made.

This is when wild turkey greeted us and tied into my other friend’s sighting on the day of the tire incident. Wild turkeys ran by while she waited for her tire to be fixed, and she sent me a video of them asking if we had wild turkeys here. I told her that we did not where we live, however I heard that there may be some in the valleys, but we’ve never actually seen them.

That is, until she brought it up after her sighting on that very portal connective day we shared.

At the hot springs grounds, I was surprised by the sound of gobbles from the biggest flock of wild turkeys we’ve ever seen.

There were at least thirty, if not more, traipsing through the forest near our path. It was truly a sight.

They continued on down the path and at one point they were running and sounded like they were giggling and squealing. I’ve never heard this sound they were making, but the whole joy of it made me laugh out loud.

Abundance, connection, harvest of gifts for prosperity, and a new, joyous “voice” come to mind.

I always love and feel extra gratitude for the reflections and confirmations that show up all around.

While the season has started off really slow so far, with snow only coming in spurts and melting pretty quickly at lower altitudes, it’s still felt cozy with temperatures brisk and rain coming more than the white drops of snowflakes.

This has enabled us to keep hiking and taking walks, whereas in previous years we’d be skiing and snow shoeing a lot more already.

We were away for two nights at my family’s house over Christmas Eve and Christmas, after Dave’s mom left. We enjoyed our visit with her, got in some time on our own, and then immersed in family warmth for the holiday.

I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but however you immerse in this time of year, I hope we can all always unite through the boundlessness of love in our hearts, honor the sacredness of all life, and the wondrous expression of our conscious creative spontaneity.

The days we spent with my family were full of love, laughter, inner child joy, and reflections upon the gifts of life that come from the value of our ability to experience, express, and to feel the myriad of possibilities.

We took walks between meals, ate lots of yummies, and stayed up very late playing board games and poker with It’s a Wonderful Life, Babes in Toyland (Laurel & Hardy’s classic with March of the Wooden Soldiers in it), and Christmas with Andrea Bocelli and Friends playing in the background, and enjoyed extended morning sleep.

It was a nice change not having anything to do but relax in the sparkly, enchanted domain that would make Santa envious.

From our hearth home to yours, I hope that the beauty and warmth shared in these photos penetrate to the percolating seeds of your vitality to blossom forth in grandest potential.

You are the splendor realizing your brilliance never faded. You simply may have forgotten that droplets of stardust run through your veins.

Cultivation of heart deepening reflects truly being alive.

Moments and days are fleeting, but one deeply experienced expression can be the wind that makes your heart and soul soar long after.

May we find more ways to nurture beauty in the world and our daily experiences, see the silver linings of things, and especially create connective bridges that merge our hearts’ capacities to love, laugh, play, and believe more.

And may these windows of creative and loving intentions woven into our shared holiday tapestry touch a place in your heart from mine.

This shirt (above) I got as a Christmas gift from faery sis Laura feels like a perfect match for the energy I’m feeling about the coming year.

It reflects the Sun Tarot card and incidentally synched up with my gift to self, which was a Sun Tarot card necklace in the classic Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot style. I always make sure to mention Pamela Colman Smith, the artist behind this deck, as “Pixie” (her nickname) was nearly lost in history until more recent years. She holds a special meaning and place in my heart that means even more to me now than ever.

I’ll let you Google or explore the meaning of the Sun card at the link I’ve added, if you don’t already know, but I think you can surmise simply from the feeling of the image, especially on the pendant of the infant child riding a white horse, displaying a flowing red banner under the Sun ,and surrounded by sunflowers.

And now I’ll leave you with this image, created in playful “T” style hopefully to bring giggles to your heart, as I am forever going to invoke my inner child to share silliness with others in hopes that we can all take ourselves less seriously and laugh our worries away.

This is how I’m inviting the New Year in…with a strong hand hold on opportunities that the new energetic landscape offers and a firm commitment to not being left behind of the adventures that await the open-hearted! I’m not about to let the fun pass me by!

I don’t know where we’re headed for sure, but I’m in!

Are you?!

Hold on to your hats and glasses folks, cuz this here’s the wildest sleigh ride in the West!

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Magickal and fun wishes for a fresh year ahead!

A new chapter awaits you to author its story.

And if you’re still feeling out for a new crystal friend to kick off the year with, there are several special Tahoe Quartz still awaiting a home – again the Tahoe quartz have only been touched by me and proceeds will be donated to rescue rabbits.

Thank you to everyone who’s dancing in the energies with our crystal collective to create ripple effects of new experiences!

See you in 2025!