I discovered this New Year’s idea on Facebook but I decided to put it into practice. First you need a jar. I found a beautiful one, made in Italy, and topped with a lapis blue lid. Perfect!

Each week you put a slip of paper in the jar recording something good that has happened. My guess is that I’ll want to add more than 52 slips, so I might need small pieces of paper. At the end of the year, you open the jar and read and remember what you have recorded. Joyful memories and a great send off into a new year.

I used to use my desk calendar to do something similar, reviewing what had happened during the year. This year I bought an academic calendar which goes from July to July so I realized I was missing that ritual. I like this one even better. I am planning on having that jar get stuffed to the brim with paper. No harm in adding some intention to the pile and a desire to focus on the good things. Of Course…..this doesn’t mean challenging things won’t take place. They arise for our overcoming and transformation. But perhaps the sense of struggle will be overshadowed by belief in a universe that hears our conversation and responds to an attitude of joyful action.

Right now, I love the glistening emptiness of this jar, that space eager to receive gratitude, miracles, unexpected events and messages from ‘out of the blue.’ For me the joy of the jar is not just about how I will feel on New Year’s Eve 2016, but the anticipation of all that the year will bring. Right now that jar is filled with hope and a bright vision for the future.