December is one of my favorite months of the year, simply because I love the holiday season. There’s something magical about it—the air feels different, softer, and almost reverent. I love opening my advent calendar each morning, savoring the little moments of joy it brings, reminding me of my childhood, and the excitement and joy it used to bring me.
And then the German (European) tradition to light one candle on each Advent Sunday…it simply fills me with peace and it feels like an anchor to the sacredness of this time.
I love these customs and traditions: and I love these quiet rituals that remind me to go inward, to pause and honor the stillness, even amidst the chaos and very challenging times we experience as a collective.
December isn’t about rushing or stressing for me (though let’s be honest, the hustle can creep in! And it did creep in for me.). Instead, it’s a time to reflect, to slow down and embrace what truly matters: celebration, love, friendship, peace, and compassion. We first need to cultivate it in ourselves, how else will we be able to experience it in the world?
It’s also been a month of personal reflection. I’ve been thinking about the growth I’ve experienced this year, the lessons learned, and the dreams I’ll carry into the new year. December feels like the perfect book ending—and if you’ve been reading my blog then you know I have a thing for books and the best and heartwarming ending (which is only the beginning of another chapter). So I closed 2024 gently, opening a new chapter, for new beginnings.
Hosting my Digital Self-Care Advent Calendar
As a child, I absolutely loved my Advent calendar. I couldn’t wait for the next morning to open the next “door” and discover what little surprise awaited me. That excitement has never faded. Even as an adult, I still adore the tradition and make sure to have an Advent calendar every year. It brings so much joy, and I truly believe I’ll never stop this beautiful tradition. It’s a way of embracing the countdown to the holidays with anticipation and wonder, even as life gets busier.
But coming back to my digital Self-Care Advent Calendar—what a heartwarming project it turned out to be! The first time I offered it was in 2023 and everyone loved it, so I thought to myself: “Why not this year?” Exactly, “why not this year!?!” And here I was, hosting another digital advent calendar.
Each day, the wonderful ladies who joined this free gift received an email filled with thoughtful surprises. These daily emails included self-care tips to help them relax and recharge, affirmations to uplift their spirits, and little treats and gifts to add a sprinkle of joy to their day.
Those kinds of messages make my day. 🙂
The idea was to create a moment of calm and inspiration amidst the holiday hustle and bustle. It became a daily ritual for many—a small pause to connect with themselves and embrace the magic of the season. The feedback I received was truly heartwarming, and knowing it brought comfort and joy to so many made my efforts completely worthwhile.
Launching a New Website: Women Circle Berlin
Yay, we finally launched our new website Women Circle Berlin. This project has been a true labor of love, and I poured so much of my heart and energy into building it. Stefanie and I, the co-founders of Women Circle Berlin, have spent months planning, conceptualizing, and tuning into what we truly want to offer. Our vision is to create safe, nurturing spaces where women can retreat, reconnect with themselves, and build meaningful, soul-nourishing connections with others.
We are beyond excited to announce our very first women’s circle! The event, called Sacred Beginnings, will take place on February 1st, 2025, at Frei und Sein in Berlin. It will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 3 p.m., with a 1-hour lunch break to recharge and share. This is just the start—Sacred Beginnings will be one of many women’s circles we’ll hold in Berlin in person.
If you are around, please join us for this special occasion. Find out more here. Bring a sister, too! Let’s connect.
We can’t wait to see you.
Christmas Eve
I spent Christmas Eve with friends. We, the women, spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen, cooking together. Everything we made was vegan, prepared with so much love and intention. There’s something profoundly beautiful about women gathering around the hearth to create a meal. It feels like a sacred ritual, a timeless act of connection, nourishment, and care. It’s as if, through our hands and hearts, we weave love directly into the food we prepare.
What amazed me most was how effortlessly we worked together. Typically, having so many chefs in one kitchen can lead to chaos—too many opinions, too much noise—but for us, it was harmonious. Without needing to say much, we moved in perfect flow, each of us intuitively finding our role. One would chop while another stirred; one would season while another plated. It was like a graceful dance, one where everyone instinctively knew the steps.
By the time the feast was ready, it truly felt like magic. We didn’t just make food—we conjured up something extraordinary together, a meal infused with the love and joy of the season. Wir haben ein Festessen gezaubert. (German for: We conjured a feast!)
Have a look yourself. Be my guest next year 😉
Blog articles I wrote in December
- My November 2024 Review: Sweet November Rain
- Lost In Pages: Cozy and Romantic Autumn Vibes – Book Reflections November 2024, Part 1
- Lost In Pages – Audiobooks: Book Reflections November 2024, Part 2
- Spot These 3 Signs They’re Using Gaslighting by Accusing You of Gaslighting
- 12 of 12 December 2024
- Overcoming Holiday Grief: Healing Through The Busyness Of The Holidays
- The Call to Your Wild Heart: Why Reclaiming Your Wilderness is Essential
I reached my reading goal for 2024 – I surpassed it!
I’m so happy that in 2024, I made it a goal not only to reconnect with music—singing and writing more—but also to dive back into fiction, something I hadn’t done in a long time. I wrote all about it in my Lost In Pages articles that I have been publishing since April 2024.
I’m so thrilled to have surpassed my reading goal for 2024! My initial aim was to read 44 books, but once I got into the groove, I couldn’t stop. I ended up reading a lot of fiction, quite a few non-fiction books, and even listened to 17 audiobooks. Woohoo! Here’s to another year filled with even more incredible books.
I also reached another milestone
I’m absolutely loving how my Pinterest is growing month by month. Sure, it could have a few more followers—I wouldn’t mind that at all!—but what really excites me is the reach it’s achieving. As I’m typing this, my monthly views have hit 88k, which feels massive to me. Considering where I started, this feels like such a win.
At the beginning of the year, my Pinterest was pretty much dormant, almost like an old scrapbook collecting dust. But in late summer 2024, I decided to breathe new life into it. I committed to posting regularly again like I did in 2023, experimenting with different types of pins, and leaning into the creative side of things.
For my creativity, Pinterest has proven to be the perfect platform. It feels like a playground where I can post whatever inspires me—whether it’s tips, blog posts, or visuals—and have it beautifully curated in one place. It’s not just about growing numbers; it’s about creating something that feels true to me and sharing it with the world.
Looking at how much it’s grown and seeing how others engage with my content fills me with so much joy. It reminds me that consistency and creativity really do pay off. Tiny steps!
New Year’s Eve – Closing a Crazy 2024
The Madness of the Night
Okay, this one will be more of a rant, but it needs to be said.
New Year’s Eve in Berlin has always been stressful for me. Not because I’m running around trying to plan the perfect party or outfit, but because of the relentless chaos of fireworks and firecrackers. People start setting them off a week (sometimes even longer) before the 31st, and by the time the big night arrives, it feels like a war zone outside.
I’ve never been a fan of this. I mean, as a child I loved seeing the fireworks, but I was always afraid of the horrible firecrackers people throw into the crowds. While I can appreciate a well-organized and safe fireworks display, I strongly believe fireworks in the hands of random individuals are a recipe for disaster. And honestly, I just don’t get it. For many, it seems less like celebration and more like reenacting war. At a time when the world is crying out for peace, this kind of reckless destruction feels completely out of place.
People literally blowing up their money. I don’t get it!
And when you think about it, the impact is far-reaching and truly devastating. Especially for people who have lived through war, the constant noise of explosions can trigger traumatic memories. Refugees and others from war-torn regions can be thrown into fight-or-flight mode, reliving horrors they’ve worked so hard to escape. For individuals with PTSD, the unrelenting noise and unpredictability are deeply destabilizing, often undoing months or even years of hard-fought progress in their healing. And it does take time to relax the nervous system.
And then there are the more sensitive souls—those with heightened sensory responses—who struggle even more deeply. Honestly, anyone with a bit of common sense would look at this chaos and say, “No, this is absolute nonsense.”
For me, the endless barrage of loud bangs and flashes feels like a personal assault. It’s not just a fleeting discomfort; it really takes me days to fully recover from the madness. And to be honest, it’s not only the noise that lingers but the anger and frustration as well. I find myself grappling with this deep sense of disbelief—how can people be so reckless, so selfish, and (sorry, but it’s true) so utterly thoughtless and stupid? How do they not see the impact this has on the collective, on the world we share, on the creatures and humans who suffer because of it? I don’t get it! Did I already say that?!
And let’s not forget the animals. Pets often cower in fear, trembling and hiding as the explosions echo around them. For many, it’s not just stressful but outright terrifying, leading to panic attacks, heart issues, or even running away in a desperate attempt to escape the noise. Wildlife suffers, too—birds abandon their nests, small animals flee their burrows, and many struggle to find safety in an environment that feels under attack, understandably so.
My cute darling-cat Kaspar always gets really scared and anxious. And it takes a lot to ease his terror. He hides under the sofa or cowers in the corridor of my apartment. This year was no different: I was sitting with him for hours, trying to calm him down and give him shelter. He was barely eating and drinking.
And then, the environment, of course: another victim of this thoughtless indulgence. Fireworks release toxic chemicals into the air, including heavy metals and pollutants that linger long after the display. These contaminants seep into the soil and water, harming plants, animals, and even us. And then there’s the trash—shattered firework remnants litter the streets, parks, and rivers, creating a massive cleanup effort and leaving ecosystems disrupted. I mean, how much more do people need to get it?! Well, I guess most of them just don’t care.
Okay, I’m done with my rant.
Releasing & Turning Inwards
I treated myself to a delicious dinner that evening: a bowl of vegan pasta topped with my epic roasted bell pepper–tomato sauce. Let me tell you, it was absolutely divine—rich, flavorful, and deeply nourishing. The roasted bell peppers add a smoky sweetness, perfectly balanced by the tangy tomatoes and a hint of spice. It’s one of those recipes that feels like a warm hug in a bowl, perfect for cozy evenings.
If you’d like to try it yourself, let me know in the comments—I’d love to share it with you! You can also email me with the subject line “Recipe,” and I’ll happily send it your way. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on this one. It’s a crowd-pleaser, even for non-vegans, and a staple in my kitchen.
A couple of hours before midnight, I sat down to journal. Page after page poured out of me as I let everything flow—the rawest, most authentic truths of who I am in this moment. It felt so freeing to not hold back, to simply write down everything that wanted to be heard.
Afterward, I did a ritual that felt deeply transformative. I wrote down the things that had been weighing on my heart for years—some for decades even. With intention, I released the energy, allowing my heart to open to forgiveness, love, and compassion. As I burned the pages, I cried rivers of tears, watching the flames consume the words completely, as if their weight dissolved into the fire.
This year has been a year of intense heart healing. I knew it would be—a year of reckoning and mending after everything that happened in 2023, a year that utterly broke me. But through the breaking, there has been a softness, a rebuilding, and a quiet strength emerging. This ritual felt like a culmination of that journey—a moment of release, renewal, and hope.
And speaking of hope…
Here’s a little anecdote that made me laugh out loud
A couple of weeks before New Year’s Eve, I found myself in a moment of heartache and feeling completely lost. I had no idea which path to take, and honestly, a sense of hopelessness crept in. When I find myself in situations like this, I usually meditate, pull a card, or open a book to a random page in search of guidance. On this particular day, I did exactly that, opening The Sophia Code by Kaia Ra, asking Spirit to send me the message I needed to hear.
Well, when I opened the book, it landed on a blank page. My initial reaction was, “WTF?!” I stared at it for a moment, feeling a little confused, and then… I had to laugh out loud. The humor of God, Spirit, The Divine, or whatever you want to call it—it’s undeniable. And that laughter cleared my hopelessness. I love how humor and laughter can change everything. It’s the best medicine.
Sometimes, we’re not meant to know what’s ahead of us. Oftentimes, the only answer we truly need is the one within our own hearts. And sometimes, Spirit gives you a blank page as a reminder: This is a clean slate. A canvas waiting for you to write and draw your story.
So, the question I had to ask myself was: What story do I want to write?
Closing Thoughts
And with that anecdote of hope and laughter I want to close this year, these monthly reviews for 2024.
What a year of transformation and healing it has been.
I’m deeply grateful for life. In 2024, I came very close to death, and I don’t take for granted that I’m still here. Each day is a gift, a reminder to cherish every moment.
Looking ahead, I’m filled with excitement for all that’s yet to come—the people I’ll meet, both new faces and familiar ones, the projects I’ll pour my heart into, and the adventures that lie ahead.
I will continue writing my story, a new chapter unfolding in this new decade of mine, in this new year of the collective. It’s an opportunity to start fresh, to embrace the journey, and to live with an open heart.
I wish you, dear reader, all the best for 2025!
