New Year, New Heights!

This month we wanted to reach out to you, our community to find out the best ways that we could celebrate you as we move into a new year. You are the reason we do what we do and we wanted to know what was on your hearts and minds as you stepped into this new season.

We asked you to reflect on what you would like to be celebrated for and what your love for yourself would look like this year. Your answers, as always, brought so much joy and really showed us how we could best support you. Our celebrations of you are below:

Celebrating You in Time 

Sociologists Rusu and Kantola (2016) told us that celebrations are not just marked dates. They are rituals that transform time itself. They lift us out of the ordinary rhythm of hours and minutes and invite us into moments that feel vivid, connected, and deeply alive. 

At the beginning of this year, we invite you to do just that: to pause, to step gently away from the daily rush, and to enter a small pocket of time that feels timeless. This mindset shift allows even the simplest minutes to become filled with grateful emotions, refreshed meaning, and shared purpose, all of which are hugely beneficial for our psychological well-being.  

Celebrating You in Community 

Celebrations also connect us to one another. They reawaken our sense of belonging and remind us of the beauty that lives in togetherness. In these shared moments, when we loosen the routines of everyday life, we rediscover joy, creativity, and the quiet strength that comes from being part of something larger than ourselves. 

May the knowledge that you are part of this kind and vibrant community give you courage and inspiration to begin your own celebrations. When you do, know that others, all across this community, are standing beside you, honouring ourselves for some of these magnificent qualities: 

1. Strength and Endurance 

Words like resilience, resiliency, steadfastness, bravery, and commitment emphasize perseverance through difficulty, inner strength, and courage when facing challenges. 

2. Service and Responsibility 

Terms such as service, servant leadership, dedication, reliability, and professionalism reflect a focus on duty, accountability, and helping others — often tied to moral integrity and leadership. 

3. Creativity and Adaptability 

Innovations and creativity capture adaptability, problem-solving, and the ability to balance multiple roles or think in new ways. 

4. Authentic and Relational Qualities 

Authenticity, listening, and point toward empathy, honesty, and meaningful connection with others. 

5. Positive Energy and Attitude 

Joy, optimism, and enthusiasm convey emotional vitality, hopefulness, and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook. 

6. Calm and Reflection 

Quietness, calmness, restfulness and thoughtfulness add a theme of composure, self-awareness, and reflective strength that balances the more active traits. 

If these words speak to you, pause a little longer and let their meaning unfold. In doing so, you’ll enrich your time, your life, and the community to which you belong with deeper meaning and gratitude. 

Celebrating Who You Are and How You Love 

Psychologists (Choi and Ross, 2011) teach us that we each celebrate differently.  Some honour the self, while others celebrate the way we do things. To understand this more deeply, we asked members of our community to reflect on two questions.  

For some people, we asked you to celebrate you, as a person, by completing this sentence: I would like to be celebrated for my ________. 

While for others, we asked you to celebrate you, as in how you love, by completing this sentence: My love for myself this year will be __________________. 

Here is how our community chooses to love themselves this year:  

1. Self-Love and Inner Peace 

You love yourself with simplicity, peace, and humility. You aim to embrace calmness, patience, and gratitude while letting go of negativity and living quietly and restfully. 

2. Personal Growth and Learning 

You have a strong focus on intentional growth through new learning experiences. This includes taking classes, reading more, improving cooking and baking skills, and developing fundraising abilities. You also highlight the importance of acknowledging both strengths and weaknesses as part of your growth journey. 

3. Kindness and Positive Influence 

You aspire to show compassion and generosity toward others, especially the vulnerable, by spreading kindness and joy. You also want to be a positive role model and foster meaningful connections with colleagues and loved ones. 

We are humbled and honoured as we read your answers. You reveal a community defined by tenderness, courage, and compassion. 

Thank you. 

As we begin this new year, we will dedicate three quiet minutes in our monthly meetings to pause and to celebrate you and the beautiful love you bring into this world. 

During those moments, we will think of you in gratitude and thank you for welcoming us into your story. We will hold space for your strength and joy, knowing that celebration itself nurtures individual well-being (Etzioni & Bloom, 2004), strengthens familial connections (Fiese, 2002) and enhances social cohesion (de Rivera, 2018). 

We invite you to do the same: to gift yourself three additional minutes each month to celebrate who you are and how you love. That time is waiting to be transformed by your kindness and your intention. Perhaps you might even mark it in your calendar today. And if you ever need any help, we are only one email click away at JenShang@philanthropy-institute.org.uk.

References:

Choi, K., & Ross, M. (2011). Cultural differences in process and person focus: Congratulations on your hard work versus celebrating your exceptional brain. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(2), 343-349. 

de Rivera, J. (2018). Themes for the celebration of global community. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 24(2), 216.  

Etzioni, A., & Bloom, J. (Eds.). (2004). We are what we celebrate: Understanding holidays and rituals. NYU Press. 

Fiese, B. H., Tomcho, T. J., Douglas, M., Josephs, K., Poltrock, S., & Baker, T. (2002). A review of 50 years of research on naturally occurring family routines and rituals: Cause for celebration?. Journal of family psychology, 16(4), 381. 

Rusu, M. S., & Kantola, I. (2016). A time of meta-celebration: Celebrating the sociology of celebration. Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 7(1), 1.