No. 16: What I'm Letting Go of Before the Year Ends

A Soft December Release

Some years end with fireworks.

Some end with a sprint.

This one, for me, ends with a gentle exhale — a loosening of the grip I didn’t know I had.

December always asks two questions:

What will you carry forward?

and

What can’t come with you anymore?

Letting Go Without the Drama

I used to believe letting go required some dramatic gesture — a ceremonial goodbye, a final confrontation, a moment that neatly folded the past into something meaningful.

But this year has softened me.

This year has whispered its lessons instead of shouting them.

So the things I’m releasing now are quiet, too.

The Versions of Me I’m Releasing

I’m letting go of the version of myself who thought she had to earn rest.

The one who apologized for being tired.

The one who stretched herself thin in the name of being “dependable.”

The one who stayed silent to keep the peace.

The one who mistook self-abandonment for love.

I’m letting go of the pressure to constantly be improving — as a mother, a partner, a creative, a human.

Not because growth isn’t sacred, but because growth sometimes looks like stillness.

Timelines, Expectations, and the Heavy Coats We Shrug Off

I’m letting go of timelines that were never mine.

Of expectations that feel like heavy coats I can finally shrug off.

Of the idea that the year must end with a dramatic transformation.

Some years simply ask us to learn how to breathe again.

A Lighter Ending, a Freer Beginning

As the year folds into its final pages, I’m choosing lightness.

Not the kind that comes from having everything figured out —

but the kind that comes from deciding what no longer gets to follow me.

A softer ending.

A freer beginning.

A Reminder to You

If you’re releasing things quietly,if you’re loosening your gripon versions of yourself that no longer fit—I hope you give yourself grace.

Letting go doesn’t always look dramatic.Sometimes it’s soft,subtle,barely noticeable to anyone but you.

Trust the small unburdenings.Trust the lighter steps.Trust the way your body knowswhat it can’t carry anymore.

You’re allowed to set things down.

—Steph