Classicone of the new year with the month-to-month horoscope – and equally destined to be trashed after not a few months, but a few weeks – is the list of good intentions. Even if hardly anyone believes it anymore and we all know that the year doesn’t start in January but in September, there is always someone willing who, in addition to the balance of the past, tries his hand at making promises for the new year. Better if via social media, and where else. Whether they are perfect strangers, the wonderful Bianca Balti or an influencer, the story is the same: new year, new me. But better than the list of promises is the letter to oneself.
Leafing through the posts after lunch and after dinner during the holidays, you can already guess what the trend of the year could be. One, two, three famous posts and as many from unknowns are enough to understand what goes and what doesn’t. For the past year, no doubt, a show of gratitude. For 2022 we have a half-pandemic, war, crisis and a slew of even more dramatic economic forecasts, do you want to be #happy? But you can’t even put a selfie taken after seeing the bill or the new mortgage interest. Although the exact opposite is all the rage, for mere mortals Instagram is still the place to put photos where you have come out well, not the ones where you can see our flaws which, in any case, can already be seen very well every day. So off to #grateful, grateful, which makes you wise and humble too. And the most beautiful photo of the whole year, however, does not clash. Chiara Ferragni, the undisputed queen of social media, also posted it: “Grateful, word of the year”.
For 2023 instead of good intentions there is a letter to oneself. The most provident ones had already sent it a year ago and are reading it now, the novices are writing it now and sending it for next year. It is the therapeutic power of writing. Sonia Scarpante, teacher of therapeutic writing and trainer, president of the “La cura di sé” association, whose honorary members are Eugenio Borgna and Massimo Recalcati, explains it well with her work. «The letter to oneself is always the incipit of my courses-she explains. The meaning is to dedicate something to ourselves: it can be a memory but also a writing that can give voice to our desire. In this way an inner dialogue opens up which can prove to be precious».
No pen and paper, just an email. There are several dedicated sites and even a function that allows you to schedule emails. New Year’s Eve in New Year’s Eve. The beneficial potential is objective, the desire to share the results and balance sheets of the most intimate correspondence decidedly more subjective.