Year of Listening
Deep Listening
An invitation to slow down and reconnect — with yourself, your loved ones, the land, and your culture.
Rooted in Indigenous values, this journey celebrates the wisdom of our ancestors and the transformative power of deep listening.
Why Deep Listening?
Deep listening is an act of stillness and presence. By listening deeply—to ourselves, the land, and one another—we honour the teachings of our ancestors and create space for healing, growth, and cultural revitalization.
How it Works
Each month features prompts and practices to help you:
- Pause and embrace stillness
- Deepen your connection to yourself, your community, and the land.
- Find wisdom in reflection and grow
Ways to Participate
Explore your reflections through journaling, art, storytelling, or meditation.
Connect with our monthly themes and activities in a way that feels meaningful to you.
Join our Facebook Group to share your journey and insights!
This journey is yours to shape. Whether you join every month or just a few times a year, let it guide you toward meaningful connection and reflection.
Share your Experience
If you are comfortable sharing some of your reflections or your experience participating in our Year of Listening journey, we invite you to continue the conversation over on our social media pages!
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January ✨ Reflection & Intention
⭐ Reflection Prompt:
- Start the new year with clarity and purpose! Let’s honour the wisdom of 2024 while planting seeds of intention for 2025.
- ❤️ What intentions will guide you this year as you listen to yourself, the land, and your community?
- Choose one powerful intention for each month that uplifts and energizes you.
- This isn’t about rigid resolutions—it’s about cultivating practices that give you life, connection, and meaning.
✍️ Reflection Questions:
- What wisdom from 2024 has shaped your understanding of yourself, your relationships, and your connection to the land? How can this guide your intentions for 2025?
- When you take a moment to truly listen—whether to yourself, the natural world, or your community—what do you hear calling for your attention or care this year?
- What role does your connection to your culture and ancestry play in shaping your intentions for 2025? How does this connection inspire and guide you?
Explore and Engage
Pause & Feel
Close your eyes and connect with winter—feel the wind on your skin, the vibrations beneath you, and the distant sounds around you. Let this moment of stillness ground you in the season.
Listen to Sounds of Winter
Click the link to hear a short audio clip and immerse yourself in the serene rhythms of winter—let the sounds transport you to the heart of the season.
Winter Solstice Poem
A heartfelt poem from a community member.
Letter to You
Write a letter to yourself, dated for this day in 2026. Reflect on what the past year has taught you and the intentions you hope to carry forward into 2025. Include words of encouragement, hope, and self-compassion. Seal the letter, place it somewhere safe to revisit next year and set a reminder for yourself (on your calendar) to return to it. By writing a letter to yourself, you are creating a personal tradition of reflection and growth.
Create
Create something inspired by your culture—art, a craft, or a recipe—and reflect on its connection to your roots. Draw inspiration from winter’s stillness and your cultural teachings. Paint a snowy scene, craft with winter-inspired colours, or prepare a traditional winter recipe to honour the season. Reflect on how your creation connects you to the lessons of resilience and renewal.
Gratitude Jar
Decorate a jar to use throughout the year. Begin by writing down things you’re grateful for from 2024 and intentions for the new year on slips of paper. Add to the jar regularly, creating a collection of positive reflections to revisit when you need inspiration.
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February 💖 Gratitude for Connections
⭐ Reflection Prompt:
- This month, we focus on Gratitude for the Land, Loved Ones, and Ancestors—honouring the important relationships that ground us.
- ❤️ Who or what are you grateful for today? How does gratitude deepen your connections?
- 🌿 Take time to reflect on a meaningful relationship—whether with the land, family, or community.
- 💙 Share a story or practice of gratitude that’s close to your heart. Let’s celebrate the connections that nourish us.
✍️ Reflection Questions:
- What moments of connection—whether with loved ones, the land, or ancestors—are you most grateful for lately? How have they shaped or strengthened you?
- When you take time to quietly observe the world around you, what do you notice about your relationship with the land and its rhythms? How does this observation inspire gratitude?
- What story or teaching shared by a loved one or Elder has stayed with you? How does it influence your understanding of gratitude and connection?
Explore and Engage
Listen to Elder’s Stories (9mins)
Elder Marjorie Muise, a Mi’kmaw Elder from Bay St. George, warmly reflects on her childhood winters surrounded by family and the traditions that sustained them. Her story weaves together memories of community, resilience, and the magic of the winter solstice—from harvesting firewood by horse and sled, to the simple joys of storytelling, ice fishing, and the moonlit beauty of freshly fallen snow. As you listen, reflect on the wisdom passed down through generations and the enduring lessons of endurance, connection, and the quiet magic of winter. Let her words inspire your own reflections on how winter shapes your traditions and sense of self.
Story Journaling
After listening to a loved one or an Elder’s story, write down the parts that resonated with you the most. Reflect on why these moments stood out and what lessons they hold for you.
I can smell the snow
Elder Marjorie Muise, a Mi’kmaw Elder from Bay St. George, invites you to immerse yourself in the imagery and emotions of her poem, ‘I Can Smell the Snow’. Through her words, she captures the essence of the winter solstice—its shorter days, longer nights, and the renewal found in the season’s first snowfall. Her poem reflects on traditions passed down through generations, the warmth of connection, and the quiet magic of renewal under a blanket of snow. As you listen, let her poetic voice inspire you to reflect on the stories, memories, and feelings the winter season evokes in your own life.
Silent Observation
Choose a window to look out of or a calm space to sit. Observe what’s happening around you without speaking or reacting—just quietly notice the world. Reflect on what you noticed in the stillness that you might usually overlook.
Silence
A poem by one of our community members. This poem invites you to explore the transformative power of stillness and silence. Through vivid imagery, it reframes quiet moments as spaces for creation, healing, and resilience. As you read, reflect on how pauses in your own life—those spaces between words, actions, and seasons—offer opportunities for renewal and strength. Let this poem guide you in finding intention and courage in moments of stillness.
Connection Offering
Make or gather something meaningful—a handmade craft, a bundle of cedar or sage, or a baked treat—and offer it to someone who has impacted your life. Reflect on the act of giving as a way to honour and strengthen your connection.
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March 💪 Resilience & Strength
⭐ Reflection Prompt:
- March is all about celebrating the incredible resilience within you and the land. Like nature’s ability to thrive through storms, our inner strength carries us through life’s challenges.
- ❤️ What is a moment of resilience you have experienced, and how did it shape you?
- 🌿 Embrace acts of resilience by reconnecting with cultural teachings, finding strength in nature, or reflecting on moments that have defined your growth. Together, we honour the resilience that helps us thrive.
✍️ Reflection Questions:
- What challenges have you faced that revealed your inner strength? How did these moments shape your perspective on resilience and personal growth?
- How do the cycles of nature—like the changing seasons or the growth of a plant—reflect your own life’s transitions? What lessons of resilience can you draw from these parallels?
- What qualities, values, or strengths do you contribute to your community? How can these gifts inspire or support others during times of challenge?
Explore and Engage
Visualization
Sit quietly and visualize a cycle that resonates with you, such as the moon phases, a plant’s growth, or the flow of seasons. Imagine yourself moving through each phase. How do you feel in each stage? What thoughts come to your mind? Reflect on how this cycle parallels transitions in your life.
Gathering your Gifts
Collect items that symbolize the unique qualities, values, or strengths you bring to your community. These could be tangible objects like a small stone, a meaningful photo, or something you create, or symbolic representations like a drawing or a word written on paper. Reflect on how each item represents the ways you contribute to others—through kindness, creativity, or wisdom. Keep this collection as a reminder of your role in building and supporting community, even from afar.
I can smell the snow
Choose one skill or hobby that you believe could benefit your community in the future—like cooking, storytelling, sewing, or even learning a traditional craft. Spend time today practicing or exploring this skill. Reflect on how building your abilities now can become a gift you share with others later.
Stretching (15mins)
Take a few moments to reconnect with your body through gentle movements that promote grounding and relaxation. These stretches are perfect for easing tension, improving circulation, and finding a sense of calm, whether you’re at home, at work, or anywhere in between. Let this practice remind you of the importance of pausing, breathing, and caring for your physical well-being.
Light a Candle
Welcome the spring equinox by lighting a candle as a symbol of balance and renewal, honouring the equal hours of light and darkness that mark this turning point. Take a moment to reflect on the growth you see in the natural world—buds on trees, longer days, and the return of warmth—and consider the growth you wish to nurture within yourself. Offer gratitude for the opportunities this season brings, whether through quiet reflection, a prayer, or a small offering to the land, and set intentions for the new beginnings and possibilities ahead.
Nature’s Resilience
Take a walk or sit in a place where you can observe nature’s strength—trees standing tall in the wind, plants growing through cracks in the earth, or animals adapting to the season. Reflect on how nature mirrors your own resilience.
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April 🌱 Awakening & Growth
⭐ Reflection Prompt:
- With spring’s arrival, we celebrate Growth and Change—in the land and within ourselves.
- ❤️ What new growth is emerging in your life, and how can you nurture it?
- 🌿 Try something new this month! Whether it’s reconnecting with a cultural tradition, learning a word in your language, or exploring a new creative outlet, let this season of growth inspire you.
✍️ Reflection Questions:
- What areas of your life are experiencing growth or change this season? How can you support this growth while staying grounded in your values and connections?
- How does the land around you reflect the themes of awakening and growth? What lessons can you learn from observing the changes in nature this spring?
- What new opportunities for growth and connection have you discovered this spring? How can these moments bring you closer to your roots or community?
Explore and Engage
Roots & Leaves
Participants will draw a tree to represent their life, labeling the roots with the people, traditions, and experiences that have shaped them, the trunk with their current strengths and challenges, and the leaves with their hopes and dreams for the future. They can add fruit to symbolize personal achievements or contributions they’re proud of, creating a vibrant reflection of their growth journey.
Gathering at the Roots
The creatures of the forest expand their circle, welcoming new voices, but in doing so, drift away from the cedar’s roots. When Hare and Fox urge them to reflect, they realize the importance of staying grounded in the connections that hold them together. By returning to the roots and weaving new paths, they restore their circle and strengthen the forest, balancing growth with deep connection.
Guided Meditation (3mins)
Short and quick 3-minute guided breathing meditation to help you recognize symptoms of anxiety and reset your mind.
Prepare your Space
Clean a space that is meaningful to you. Maybe it’s a space where you do creative work, or a space where you feel safe and like to unwind. Bring in the positive energy by giving your favourite space some patience and care.
Spring (poem)
Read this springtime poem by Elder Marjorie Muise.
Read an Elder’s Story
Read this springtime story by Elder Marjorie Muise.
Explore Signs of Growth
Take a walk outside and look for signs of spring—new buds, flowing water, or returning birds. Reflect on how these changes mirror growth in your own life and inspire you to embrace new beginnings.
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May 🤝🏽 Connecting with Community
⭐ Reflection Prompt:
- May is all about coming together—strengthening the bonds that unite us with family, community, and culture.
- ❤️ How do you strengthen and support your community? What does community mean to you?
- 🌿 Join a community gathering, a program, or simply spend meaningful time with loved ones. Let’s come together to celebrate the bonds that make us stronger.
✍️ Reflection Questions:
- What does community mean to you, and how do the connections you share with family, culture, and the land shape your sense of belonging?
- Who in your community has had a significant impact on your life? How can you honour and strengthen that connection this month?
- What moments or experiences make you feel most connected to your community, and how can you create more of those opportunities?
Explore and Engage
Gratitude Mapping
Create a visual map of the connections you’re grateful for. Include the land, your ancestors, your loved ones, and any meaningful relationships. Add drawings, symbols or words that capture how each connection nourishes you.
Heartfelt Gratitude
Write a Letter to someone who has had a profound impact on your life, expressing your gratitude for the connection you share. Take time to reflect on the moments, lessons, or support this person has given you and how they’ve shaped your journey. Use your letter to celebrate the connection you share, whether it’s a family member, mentor, friend, or Elder. Let your words express the depth of your gratitude and the meaningful ways this relationship has enriched your life.
Sharing Wisdom through Food
Prepare or share a meal that reflects a teaching or tradition. Honour your culture and roots by preparing a meal that carries a special meaning or story, drawing from teachings or traditions passed down through generations. Consider incorporating seasonal ingredients to connect with the land and the rhythms of nature. As you cook or share the meal, reflect on the values and memories tied to the food and the way it nourishes not just the body, but also the spirit and community.
Gather
Gather with community members or loved ones to share stories, experiences, or reflections. Use this time to strengthen bonds, learn from each other, and celebrate the power of coming together. First Light hosts Community Culture Circle each Wednesday evening! Sign up at eventbrite.ca
Contribution
Perform a small act of kindness that aligns with your strengths and doesn’t require in-person connection. This could be writing a supportive message to someone, donating to a cause you care about, or creating something to share later (like a piece of art or a thoughtful letter). Reflect on how these quiet contributions build community over time.
Shared Spaces
Give back to your community by cleaning a shared space, planting something in a community garden, or volunteering your time at an organization that takes care of the people that matter to you.
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