Dear 2017….

Why I am a firm believer in writing love letters. 

I think that too often we get stuck in the mindset that challenging experiences need to be pushed through and forgotten or overcome. We really struggle with sitting with discomfort and difficult emotions. The food and alcohol industry proves that we are not very skilled at sitting with our discomfort much less learning from it or honoring it. We want to numb it and pretend that it did not happen.

My belief is that there is a real healing in claiming the beauty and the shadow of our experiences. The skill of being able to hold sadness and joy, fear and confidence, victim and victor at the same time is one we all need to develop.

However, I do know that it is not so easy to learn how to do this. So having some context or vehicle for learning this skill is necessary. This is why I adore the use of ” love letters” to help us claim the beauty in even the darkest of moments. If you have been following me for any length of time, you have seen my posts on writing a love letter to your business, writing a love letter to your exes and writing them to those who have wronged you in order to heal. 

Each year I write a love letter to the year that is passing and one to the year that is emerging. My goal is to model my techniques and hold a space for transparency in my work. Therefore, I am sharing my letters with you here in this blog post. I hope it inspires you to write your own love letter and to challenge yourself to hold beauty in the darkness too.

Dear 2017,

Thank you for breaking us open and for exposing our deepest flaws. It has been a painful year one where things we never imagined possible happened and often. You got our attention, you showed us how flawed we are and how amazing and resilient we can be. You taught us deep lessons. You mobilized us and froze us in our track simultaneously.

I cannot help but feel sorry for the way you will be remembered when many of us know the truth of your power. 

Thank you for the lessons, and the fury. Now go quietly take rest and let us take the next steps on our journey.

Yours in loss and love,

Nicole

Dear 2018,

Are you ready? We are no longer frozen, we are not in shock anymore. Our collective gasps and triggered trauma and denials are over. We are out of freeze and out of flight, we are ready to fight. 2018 we are coming for you! We are circling our wagons and we are standing on our hard-learned lessons. We are fierce, steady and ready for what comes next. 

2018 are you ready for the ride? Are you expanding to be the pathway of change and rebellion on all levels? Paradigms are being shifted and what is needed is more disruptors to sound the alarms and lift their voices without fear. You are poised to be the year that brings about powerful change. We are moving from a reaction, into purposeful action! Are you ready?

Let’s do this!

Nicole

I invite you to write your own love letters and would love it even more if you shared them with me!!

If you enjoyed this story and find that you need support in moving through these steps. There is no shame in that. I invite you to follow me on medium, check out my Facebook Page  Nicole Lewis-Keeber Coaching LLC or email me at nicole@lewis-keeber.com  to find out how you can work with me.

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