The Art of Letting Go

Three years ago, as the year was coming to an end, I was sitting in a beauty salon during a pedicure session when my beauty therapist casually shared a simple idea with me.

She suggested writing down one good thing that happened each month and placing it in a jar. At the end of the year, you open the jar and read them all. Her reasoning was simple: we tend to forget the good moments once something difficult happens. A few bad experiences can easily overshadow many good ones and suddenly we label the entire year as “a bad year.”

When the new year arrived, I decided to try it.

As the months passed, the jar slowly filled — and not with just one good moment per month, but many. When the year finally came to an end and I opened the jar, I was genuinely surprised. Reading through those notes reminded me how full the year had actually been. I felt grateful, grounded and deeply joyful.

That small practice stayed with me.

Reflecting on how hectic the past year had been, I felt the need to take that lesson a step further. Every year, we wish for a better one. But this time, I didn’t want to simply wish — I wanted to act. So I decided to dedicate this year to intentional living, one month at a time. Not in a rigid or demanding way, but gently. One theme. One habit. One focus per month.

January felt like the right place to begin with letting go of judgement.

I noticed how often judgement shows up in my own life — quietly, almost automatically. In the way I speak to myself when things don’t go as planned. In the quick conclusions I draw about situations and about others. In the resistance I feel when life unfolds differently than I expected.

Self-judgement, especially, has a way of slipping in unnoticed. At first, it can sound practical, even motivating. But over time, I realised how heavy it is. How it convinces me that I’m behind, not enough or somehow doing life incorrectly. Eventually, it becomes a background voice — so familiar and so loud that I forget to question it.

This month, I’m choosing to soften that voice.

Letting go of judgement doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine or avoiding difficult truths. It means noticing my reactions without immediately condemning them. It means allowing moments, emotions and situations to exist before labelling them as good or bad.

To be and to let be.

This January, I’m using reflection as a form of personal growth — releasing judgement, even briefly, to create more space and room to breathe. I want to respond instead of react and meet myself with curiosity instead of criticism. I’m hoping this shift will bring more peace and clarity into how I move through my days.

There is no goal to perfect this. No pressure to get it right. Just a willingness to notice, again and again.

If you’re reading this, you’re welcome to walk this year alongside me. At your own pace. In your own way. This isn’t about becoming someone else — it’s about coming back to oneself.

January is about releasing what weighs me down.

And that feels like the right place to begin.