Little Life Lists are for the complicated, unruly things life throws at us. I encourage you to write your own, too. With coffee. xoxo
A reset.
A moment of reflection.
Maybe you want to spend a little time doing this as much as me? After all, this year has been full of beauty and hard things.
But sometimes it’s hard to get to with everything else going on. Today, I wanted to share a few questions for this time of year that you can use easily when you have a moment.
With the rush of the season upon us, I found myself in the car with my mother-in-law on a dark prairie highway. To our left, the moon hung so low in the sky it seemed to have fallen, heavy and orange-tinged.
She sat quietly, lost in half-caught thoughts, words occasionally spilling from her to reveal the moments of connection her Alzheimer’s still allows. How are the children? she asked, even though she had seen them all minutes before.
We chatted, fell to silence, remarked on the moon again.
In the quiet, I thought about what had been hard this year, what I have loved. And how the hard things have been made softer by so many comments from so many of you here. Sharing your hearts and your favourite reads and your corners of the world with me.
Thank you.
The heavy moon lightened. We drove on.
I want to share with you some questions that started to come to me on that drive, the moon symbolic of the season as it shifts—please use any that are helpful.
Reflect:
Start with celebration
What has been wonderful this year?
What moment/s did you most love?
Who did you enjoy spending time with, and when?
What made you laugh?
What experiences did you have that linger?
What went well in your professional/creative/family life?
What are you proud of?
What did you read that you want to share?
What did you love spending time doing?
What did you enjoy?
Please drop the answer to any of these, but especially this last one, below:
Be honest with yourself
What was hard this year?
What moment/s challenged you?
Who drained you or made life harder?
What made you cry?
What experiences do you want to let go of now?
What was difficult in your professional/creative/family life?
What do you wish could have been different (I hesitate to use the word regret, but do if it’s helpful)?
What did you not enjoy (as a reader, or in the cinema, or in some other way)?
What did you wish you’d spent more time doing?
What did you wish you’d spent less time doing?
These last two questions help me move into a Reset frame of mind…
Reset:
What can you let go of?
What do you want less of in your next season?
Who or what do you want to spend less time with?
Where do you want to spend less time?
What is filling space in your weeks that you could get rid of?
Consider what’s possible
What do you want more of in your next season?
Who do you want to spend more time with?
Where do you want to spent more time?
When do you want to add this into your calendar (this is important, because we often want more of something but we don’t add it in)
As you can see in the video, a lot of this year was all a little more rough and ready than I wanted. Living with the changing climate in our household, constantly being creative in dealing with what the day-to-day brings has reminded me to be gentle with myself.
In 2025, I’m looking forward to talking more about Life-Changing books and my writing life with you. For our Life-Changing Book Club our January/February pick will be Wintering by
, recently a Sunday Times Bestseller again.Let me know books you love, or that have changed your life, tell me how the season is going for you, and share with me any answers that you choose.
xoxox
Alice
If you’re new here, my name is Alice Kuipers and I’m a writer, mother and dog-owner transplanted twenty years ago to the Canadian prairies from England. I’ve published fourteen books in 36 countries and my writing has been described as: “For storytellers and story lovers,” by Kirkus Reviews; ‘Gorgeous, heart-ripping, important,” by VOYA; and “Intense and wonderful” by Bif Naked.
Join me for a coffee break on my Substack: Confessions & Coffee.
Xoxo
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