Write a Grief Letter to 2020

To experience the sense of renewal that a new year brings, we must process what we’re leaving behind

Catherine Andrews
Forge

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Fountain pen and blank piece of paper with eucalyptus leaves.
Photo: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

I’ve always been a fan of writing letters. As a child, I would send letters full of stickers to a pen pal and felt a rush of excitement every time a reply appeared in the mailbox.

Today, as a life coach, I use letter writing differently. I see it as a tool to help us heal grievances, release what needs to be let go, and allow ourselves to speak into the world things we may have been holding on to out of fear. I regularly have my clients write letters to everyone from their toxic bosses to ex-partners to themselves.

I think that all of us, right now, could benefit from writing a letter to 2020.

We all know it has been a year. A year of uncertainty, change, chaos, loss, grief, overwhelm, stuckness. A year of a hell of a lot of indoor time. A year of new ways of experiencing joy and adventure. Whatever 2020 has been for you, it would be a missed opportunity not to speak to it, to let it know how it affected you. Maybe you need to be mad at it, or grieve it, or better understand yourself and how you got through it. Perhaps you also need to thank it.

A new year represents a renewal, but to experience that renewal, we need to clear…

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Catherine Andrews
Forge
Writer for

Teaching awakening + healing through vulnerability + self-compassion. Finding hope in a messy world. Author of the Sunday Soother. http://catherinedandrews.com