As I wrote the other week, I chose Heal as my word for 2023. My goal is to frame what I do this year in terms of how it may bring healing to my body, mind, and spirit. I mainly contrast this to framing them in terms of obligation or guilt, since those things helped cause what I need to heal from to begin with.
As part of this pursuit, I made a list in my journal of 10 ways I can cultivate this for myself. I don’t mean them as resolutions so much as practices that I can be more mindful of as the year goes on. Resolutions, after all, are usually based in responsibility and guilt, and again, I’m not going for that.
The list is borrowed from a similar list that Austin Kleon made of 10 things he’d like to learn in a year. I even originally thought of making a learning list myself, but I thought this approach would work better for me.
There’s nothing especially original or earth-shattering in the above list. I’ve been doing some of them for a while but I haven’t primarily thought of them in terms of their healing potential before. And others are just long overdue for some added attention or intentionality.
In case you need to focus on healing this year and want to make your own list, I’ve provided a blank copy of the above here:
And if you don’t feel the need to focus on healing but have another word in mind instead, here’s a blank copy where you can fill in your own word as well:
Jeffrey A. Nelson 