Dear Me 2025

An annual community ritual of reflection

Dear readers,

Please join me in an annual ritual I offer here in the Courtyard, the Dear Me letter.

Here’s how it works:

1. Check out the Dear Me letter from 2024 and 2023 to get a sense of what this can look like.

2. Write a letter to yourself (no more than a page), starting with: “Dear Me…” A few prompts to get you going:

   1. What did you learn?

   2. What did you let go of?

   3. What do you want to celebrate about yourself, about life?

   4. What do you want to take responsibility for?

   5. What were you challenged by? What did you overcome? Where were you defeated?

   6. Imagine that your past self from a year ago will have the chance to read this. What would you want them (yourself) to know?

3. Just let it flow, see where it goes. Make it intimate. Make it honest. Make it magnanimous and kind, if you can. Or make it upset, if that’s the truth. Enraged. Merciful. Make it weird. Make it funny. No right or wrong here.

4. Email me your letter (andrewforsthoefel@gmail.com) by December 30th.

5. I’ll select a few sentences from every submission, edit them together to make one letter, one voice speaking to our one self. (Important note: Your first name will be credited unless I hear otherwise from you).

6. I’ll post the collective letter here in the Courtyard.

7. You’ll read it, maybe toss up a comment.

8. We’ll move on into 2026 together, blessed.

I look forward to reading your letters. Lucky me.

With gratitude,

Andrew