Today, I turn 33.
I spent a lot of 32 turning inward. It took a year like 2020 to realize I had nothing more to give, and if I didn't slow down and take care of myself, I'd be tapped out for the long haul.
While I would love to share some well-packaged conclusions from a year of self-reflection and spiritual work, that wouldn't be true to how this past year has changed me.
Spiritual work is an excavation that keeps revealing new questions as soon as you find new answers.
So instead, as I turn 33, I want to share 33 thoughts that might help others doing spiritual care work for themselves or others. May these questions, affirmations, and hopes for the future invite you to center your spiritual nourishment as well.
11 Spiritual Questions I'm Asking Myself Right Now
You can use these questions as journal questions, writing prompts, art inspirations, or consider discussing these questions with a spiritual teacher, friend, or mentor.
Who am I beyond the harm that has happened to me?
How am I centering reciprocity as an essential practice?
How would it feel to show myself the same compassion I share with others?
How am I honoring my need for pleasure?
Who am I when I think no one is paying attention?
How does my life embody the things I say I believe?
How am I letting go of the habits, places, and people that drain me?
What do I want my legacy to be?
What memories am I creating for my future self?
How am I maintaining my boundaries?
Who will hold me accountable for creating the life and world I say I want to create?
11 Affirmations I Need to Keep Going
You can repeat these affirmations to yourself at the beginning, middle, or end of your day. You can also adapt these for groups to say in community.
My community can hold all that I am.
I am enough, even on my worst days.
My life has purpose beyond my own understanding.
Shame has no place in my life.
My body belongs to me and no one else.
I deserve forgiveness for the mistakes I've made.
I am worthy because I am alive, not because of what I can do.
I can say no without further explanation.
I am an accountable member of my communities.
I have a right to change.
I am a forever student of life.
11 Hopes for My Future
Use these prompts in tandem with dream boards and other rituals for imagining the future.
I want to stop feeling guilty for needing to rest.
I want to make space for my creative energy to be utilized for something other than work.
I hope I know when to work on repairing a relationship and when to let it go.
I hope I keep saying yes to love in all the ways it can unfold.
I hope the healing I do now heals the pain of my ancestors and stops the pain of future generations.
I hope I am always most at home with myself.
I want to stay open to being surprised by my evolution.
I want to learn the difference between focus and fixation.
I want to always put humility before my need to be right.
I hope grief never stops me from loving vulnerably.
I want to keep chasing joy.