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It is a new year and we are coming from a long week of highlight reels and end-of-year reflections. You, my dear reader, are one of two persons: You are either the creator who sat down and created the perfect reel capturing the wins of 2024 or you are the wishful viewer who wished they could summarise the memories of the past year in one video.
This article is for you, my dear reader, who struggled to remember all your emotions in the first half of 2024. I am writing to you, who found it super difficult to complete a reflection journal for the year; your wins felt so distant and your happy memories were so fleeting.
Now, 2024 is all wrapped up and if you are up for it, this can guide your retrospection into the past year. If you are all for making the most of the new year, this is how you can ensure that your end-of-year reflections come together nicely in December. In the wise words of John Dewey, “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”
The two quick tips on reflection through visual storytelling are taking more pictures and doing monthly reviews/highlight reels.
It took me days to complete my 2024 month-on-month review but the major reason I could get through it was because of my photo gallery. My pictures saved me. To fully remember the first half of the year (which truly by December is a blur), I had to check the photos I saved per month and identify the themes for the month. Apart from taking photos and monthly reels, there’s also an idea you consider when doing the monthly reviews.
Take more pictures
You do not have to share these pictures on your social media. They might be events you do not want to make public (yet) but just to save memories. Take random photos of things, places and people that made you smile. Your major goal is to document your life in pictures, so you can easily refer to the events that make up your year. This way, when it is December, the earlier months of the year are not a blur and you can reflect on them. As Karl Lagerfeld puts it, “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”
By following this, you can easily create end-of-year highlight reels if you want.
Do monthly reviews
According to author and researcher Brené Brown, “Journaling is a powerful tool for reflection, growth, and development.” It can be overwhelming to do a proper review of 12 months in one weekend (let’s say you even dedicate that much time to the activity). What would probably happen is that you start getting tired and maybe bored, so you begin to rush over important things. You will probably not get the most value from that activity because you are too tired.
For better results, set aside time towards the end of every month to do a proper review of the month so that when you get to December, you already have the reviews of the past 11 months done and you can then do reviews of reviews to extract key information needed for the new year.
When you’ve taken pictures of key moments from the month, the next thing is to get the best out of your reviews.
Step one: Go over the pictures you took this month and create a collage of pictures capturing your key moments. As you pick the pictures to use, you will realise that some memories will begin to flood back into your mind. Pay attention to the emotions that each memory evokes.
Step two: From the collage you have created, identify the themes for the month. What words define the experiences you had this month? They could be family, work trips, school lectures or friends. When you think about the month, these are the words that easily come to mind.
Step three: Having identified your key moments and defining words for the month, it is time to document your reflections. What were the highlights? What would you like to carry on? What were the new experiences? What were the low moments? Are there things you could do to avoid those moments or do better when they happen? And finally, what are you thankful for? In summary, document the Highlights, Lessons, and your Gratitude.
This is why you should take more pictures in 2025. It will make it easier for you to reflect on the year. It was Maya Angelou who said, “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.” Reflection exercises help you move through life consciously, helping you to grow in the direction of your goals. With these tips my dear reader, you are on your way to living a truly satisfying life.
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Feature Image by Gustavo Fring for Pexels
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