Sunday Cat Love and Above: Happy Mew Year – Reflect, Release, Create and Celebrate

Guest post by Siena Lee-Tajiri

Happy Holidays, friends! It’s the day after Christmas. Today, many of us are eating leftovers, picking up wrapping paper, and saving bows and ribbons while leaving the tissue pile out for the cats.

Many years ago, I started the tradition of writing my thank you notes either the day of or day after Christmas. I truly enjoy doing it this way because the energy of gratitude and joy are still palpable and the notes get infused with this extra love.

I love the holidays, beginning the week of Thanksgiving all the way through the New Year. The word “holiday” comes from “holy day.” And although the word “holy” is commonly associated with God or religion, it also simply means “sacred.” I find this last week of December to be the most sacred of all. How we utilize it is pivotal for how we welcome in the new year.

Reviewing the year is an excellent way to honor your strength and who you are. I imagine, like so many of us, you’ve been through a lot this year, and celebrating it all is a great way to go out in gratitude. So let’s take a moment to reflect, release, create, and celebrate!

Sacred Preparation

Take a look at the week and put aside an hour to do this ritual. Have a candle (a note from Ingrid: please be careful with real candles around cats, I recommend using battery operated candles), notebook or journal, pen, and a cup of tea or other healing elixir. If you love essential oils, have those ready, too. (A note from Ingrid: many essential oils are toxic to cats, so if you do use them, please be sure yours aren’t, dilute them if they aren’t already diluted, and keep them away from your cats.) Put on some calming music. One of my favorite sacred songs is Healing is a Miracle by Julianna Barwick. From the first few bars, I feel transported. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths to calm and center. Put a few drops of diluted essential oil on the palms of your hands. Rub hands together and put them up to your face to inhale. Breathe in this nature and allow each cell to receive the message of love. State your intention in your mind or out loud. I like to use, “May I be guided in my Divine reflection, release, creation and celebration.” Light the candle.

Reflect

With your eyes closed, take some time to reflect on the year. If you have some difficulty doing this, start with January and think of each consecutive month. Be mindful of your breath as you do this and think “spacious” so there’s room for the moments to bubble up. Many things will come up – things you’d rather forget and things you want to cherish.

Release

Open up your journal and start jotting down all the things you’d like to release from the year. This could be anything from releasing the habit of eating too much sugar, a friendship that has fizzled, toxic relationships, to watching too much TV or habitual negative thinking. It can also be releasing specific things that happened, such as an argument that stands out in your heart and mind. Releasing all of these less desirable things from the year helps make room for all you want to create.

Create

When you are immersed in what you don’t want, you automatically realize what you do want. While thinking of all the things to release, you start realizing what you’d actually prefer. For example, instead of continuing to nurture toxic relationships, it’s clear you want to prioritize your time with people who make you feel good and uplifted. Write down some of the things you’d like to create in the coming year. These are not necessarily goals, just a general vision.

Celebrate

I love this part of the ritual. Now that you’ve taken the time to reflect on the year, released all that no longer serves you and thought of all you want to create, it’s time to celebrate! Close your eyes and mentally, spiritually, energetically, thank all the things you’re releasing. Take your time with this. Then move on to thank all that you’d like to create as if it’s all already been done. Finally, think of your favorite celebratory memory. It could be from yesterday or way back in your childhood. Once you have the memory, relive it and allow yourself to remember all the sights, colors, sounds, textures, tastes and smells. As you do this, feel yourself flood with golden light.

Happy Mew Year!

Taking the time to reflect, release, and celebrate your experiences truly helps to bring in more good energy and space for all that you’d like to create. We are, after all, creative beings. We’re creating all the time with our thoughts, words, emotions and actions. This ritual is good to do for all transitions, changes of season, and anytime you’d like to create something new.

Some of the things that Bear and I will be doing together are:

1. Sorting and organizing his cat toys, deciding what to keep and what to let go of.
2. Creating a strong tooth brushing protocol; we’re currently trying 3 different toothpastes, one being a homemade recipe.
3. Resuming our daily harness walks in the yard.
4. 2022 will be the Year of Bear’s Catio! He’s been manifesting this with his vision board.

Bear and I want to wish you all a safe and Happy Mew Year, wishing each and every one of you a Dream Come True for 2022!

With Love and Above,
Siena

Siena Lee-Tajiri is the founder of the Love and Above Cat Club. Please visit, sign up for their mailing list, and browse their shop.

FTC Disclosure: The Conscious Cat is an affiliate partner of the Love and Above Cat Club. This means that if you decide to purchase through any of our links, we get a small commission. We only spread the word about products and services we’ve either used or would use ourselves.

Image at top of post Pixabay stock photo, photo of kitten in box Unsplash stock photo, photo of Bear ©Siena Lee-Tajiri

Some of the discounts in our Holiday Gift Guide extend through December 31, 2021, so there’s still time to get some great deals for cats and cat lovers!