Happy New Year
Hello!
I am Sophie Ancival, Board Member of The Make Good Project, grateful and excited to share the first newsletter of 2025 with you!
As we closed 2024, Melle, Erica and I spent time reflecting on the year past and the year ahead. We are thankful to everyone who has interacted with The Make Good Project in 2024 through our events, retreats, writing groups, and in response of our newsletter. We feel energized for the year to come. You can find out more about our upcoming workshops and programming (and how you can join us) further down in this email.
In 2025 we know that now, more than ever, we all will need to harness resilience and community. Erica, Melle and I reflected on what we hope our individual and collective impact will be and how The Make Good Project can continue on its mission to build spaces of creativity, wellness, and community.
As such, this newsletter is an occasion for me to share some of my personal New Years rituals and goal setting strategies to envision an empowered year ahead. Little exercises and techniques I have picked up over the years to keep me grounded and motivated in the new year. Whether you wake up like me on a cold day in November to start planning the year ahead, or you choose January 1st as that date for you, the goal is to create a vision you can be proud of and hold gently even when life washes over you.
So grab your journal and partake of this month’s writing prompts for the new year based on our pillars:
CREATIVITY: Self-Reflection
Taking time to reflect on what worked in your creative practice (and what didn’t) can be a great writing exercise to start the year. Funnily enough, you can also apply these questions to other areas of your life:
WHAT DID I CHANGE MY MIND ABOUT THIS PAST YEAR?
Changing your mind can be sign of growth and new learning. And if nothing has changed that’s also ok.
WHAT CREATED ENERGY IN MY CREATIVE LIFE THIS PAST YEAR?
Identify people, activities or projects that kept you positively moving so that you can spend more time on those in 2025.
WHAT DRAINED ENERGY FROM MY CREATIVE LIFE THIS PAST YEAR?
Identify people, activities or projects that kept you from moving forward so you can spend less time on those in 2025.
WHAT WERE MY BOAT ANCHORS THIS PAST YEAR?
What limiting beliefs or people kept you from shining your full creativity this past year?
WHAT DID I NOT DO BECAUSE OF FEAR?
What were the upsides vs downsides had you taken action?
WHAT WERE THE GREATEST CREATIVE HITS AND WORST CREATIVE MISSES OF THE PAST YEAR?
Can you reflect to see both sides?
WHAT DID I LEARN THIS PAST YEAR?
Take time to appreciate your creative growth at any level. Every win matters, because you matter!
*Further down in this newsletter I will share one of my creative hits of 2024 - a short excerpt of a text written in one of the 10 week workshop session.
COMMUNITY: Vision & Priorities
In 2022, I found an exercise called “create your values wheel.” This is how I hope to show up in the world and in my community. I love how you can do the exercise on your own, with your family or with groups whose values you want to share. Starting from a list of almost 50 value words, you narrow those to 20, then 10 then finally the 5 that represent your values. This list can evolve and change whenever you feel the need, to reflect how you’ve grown, learned and become the beautiful person you are!
Though there are many formats in the world, I’ve used THIS ONE over the years for its simplicity and efficiency. It’s free and downloadable. My list has evolved over the year and has guided me when needing an anchor to make important life decisions.
Paired with the previous exercise, you can create your creative vision for 2025!
WELLNESS: Jump starting the Year
Every year, on Jan 1, I cold plunge! I know, I know… it sounds too trendy… and cold! But really, I have done it year after year for the past 5 years and it has come to mark a fresh start (pun intended!). It is a good reminder that we are alive and have a purpose!
If you are lucky to live in commuting distance of the ocean, grab your bathing suit, a warm towel, some easy changing clothes and your loved ones - and try it out there. Bonus points if you have water shoes… trust me, the coldest part will actually be the sand!
Whether you dip your toes, your whole body, or watch from the shore, it’s about doing whatever you are physically able to do. For some it is said to have cardiovascular and immunity benefits, so if you’re curious, feel free to check one of the many articles online with info about the benefits and additional guidance for taking your first cold plunge responsibly!
And if you are not close to the sea, a cold plunge spa, a tub full of icy water, or even cold shower will do. Here’s a chance to tap into your creativity!
Sophie’s 2021 Boston New Year’s Day cold plunge
Exciting Announcements and Programming for 2025:
DO THE WRITE THING! Our FREE in-person 5-session Drop-in workshop series:
We are thrilled to that we will host a series of 5 writing workshops open to the community this winter/spring. Location TBA (our pending partner is in Harlem). This workshop is free and open to Black women, 18+, of any and all writing experience and skill level. Workshop dates are:
Monday, January 27th, 6:30pm-8:30pm - Community write and share
Saturday, February, 1st, 10am-12pm - Yoga and writing
Saturday, March 1st, 10am - 12pm - Personal Storytelling
Saturday, April 5th, 10am-12pm - Free writing
Saturday, May 3rd, 10am-12pm - Community write and share
SPACE IS LIMITED - SIGN UP AT THESE LINKS:
WRITE CLUB!
Monday - Friday, 5am-6am, Zoom meeting open to all ages, races, cultures, genders! Everybody is welcome!!
Need to carve out some space to write before the tumult of the day? Sign on at 5am every weekday for some quiet community while you prioritize some solo writing time. We say “hello” then turn our cameras and mics off for the hour while we work on individual projects in this early morning accountability meet-up. Come once or everyday! Come as you are (cameras are off)!
Our 2025 sessions begin on Monday, January 6th at 5am.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE ZOOM LINK:
Support Our Programing - Help Make Good make good with a tax deductible donation.
Other upcoming programs for 2025:
Our Annual Writers’ Retreat (July 2025)
2 X 29-hour development workshops (Spring and Fall 2025)
2 X Community Engagement programs (Winter and Fall 2025)
2 X 10 week writing workshop (Winter and Fall 2025)
Investing in Make Good invests in writing and writers, which requires:
Staff who manage, organize, coordinate, and administer the organization and events
Supplies
Actors, Directors, Dramaturgs, staff, rehearsal and performance space rentals for produced events
Lodging, meals, transportation, stipends, and supplies for retreat participants
Retreat and wellness venues, rehearsal and performance space, and general support are especially helpful
A very special thanks for your recent financial support:
Zak Berkman and Teri Lamm, Jessica Jensen, Kiersten Jensen, Laura Lapidus, Anne Marie Imbornone, Emlyn Lee, Nathan M. Ramsey, Alejandro Rodriguez, Miriam Silverman, Jessica Spector, Eric Ting, David Vegh, Donya K. Washington, Rebecca Wharton, Michael Wiggins
Sophie’s Voice
A short excerpt from one of Sophie’s creative hits of 2024 - an excerpt of a text written in one of the 10 week workshop session:
A Tree, a tree, a tree…no more tree. A Tree, a tree, a tree, no more tree. As she loses patience on our drive to the train station, I invent this little game to pass time and see the world. She is so smart and sharp, but yes, riding in the car is boring. I can’t blame her. I wonder what thoughts go through her mind and who she will grow up to be. So I teach her to see the trees and to see the world around her. The lush green of a summer tree against the bright yellow of the sunflowers. the bright skies and the birds. The cows and the horses. And so she says…a tree, a tree, a tree…no more tree.
Thank you, Sophie!