We had just completed a 7 hour drive back home from North Carolina where we spent Christmas in a cabin on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We needed to stretch our legs and so did Boomer (our dog)!

It was wonderful to retreat from normality this past week and reconnect as a couple. (check out my insta for all the pics > @katiephillipswithlove)

We talked a LOT! Mostly we talked about our relationship and what we want for our lives. We reflected on our relocation from the UK to the USA and pinched ourselves that we actually live in America! We still can’t believe it!

I shared with James my experience of my personal Reflection Ritual that I did last week. I do it each year around the Winter Solstice, before I lead my community through the same process. I had the most profound experience.

I looked back over the past few years and noticed how my ‘word’ of each year hugely influences my experience. In 2023 my word was ‘trust’ with a strong guidance to stop and slow down. My heart swelled with pride as I noticed the much improved quality of my relationships with friends and family, and the abundance of fun, joy and soul food which resulted from following that guidance. I have never before completed a year feeling so filled up and proud – all because I took the time 12 months ago to get really clear on how I wanted to feel and what my soul longed for.

If I hadn’t stopped to reflect on 2023 I wouldn’t have received all the experiences of the last 12 months to the degree that I deserved to feel them. My heart physically expanded and I cried tears of joy and pride to finish a year feeing so aligned with some of my highest values. And for me, it beats the years where I made the most money and had the most business success. My feminine was fully honoured in 2023 and I feel so abundant. Interestingly, my business continued to serve at a very high level and my income didn’t suffer. And I have reset my nervous system and some bad work habits so that what I choose to create this year will be more from a place of personal respect rather than a need to please or prove.

Stopping to reflect has allowed me to start feeling into 2024 with a totally different energy. Without the reflection ritual I genuinely wouldn’t have realised how full of love, connection, joy and expansion 2023 was! I’d have defaulted to focussing on what’s next which is not the energy I want to create from. I needed to finish receiving the year and from that filled up and abundant energy, I can create from a place of gratitude.

It felt so good to talk about this with James and to celebrate together where we are at in our lives. We both feel so much gratitude because we have each had quite the journey the past decade and have both worked hard – personally & professionally – to get to this place. It felt good to honour that together. And now we are SUPER excited for the next decade. We are making lots of plans, brainstorming ideas and preparing for more connection, adventure and fulfilment.

I get so evangelical this time of year about encouraging others to commit some time and energy to rituals that allow you to consciously close out a year and call in the new year. It is SO WORTH it! You will not regret it because it will set you up for true, soul aligned success.

So please, if you haven’t yet signed up to join my annual ‘Reflect & Vision’ offering, please check it out. It’s 3 incredible live online events – blending workshops, rituals & breathwork healing – for just £49 (unless you are a member of ‘The Love Lounge’ where the offering is included free in the membership). Find out all about it here > https://theschoolofself.love/reflect-vision

And so, my love, I will leave you to admire our last full moon of the year. This moon invites you to let go of what you no longer need so that you can prepare to receive what you desire.