5 steps to close a chapter of life

Life is a series of new beginnings.

Just like the moon, you go through phases of your own.

Every day you are able to choose what you want your future to look like.

Sometimes your days are grouped together in chapters.

Little pockets of life where you experience something for a while.

But sometimes you realize that it’s time to move on.

It’s time to start a new chapter…

Before you start a new

You must bid your current chapter farewell…

In today’s post, I’m sharing with you my step by step formula for properly closing a chapter in your life so you can start anew.

What is a chapter?

Before we actually get into closing a chapter, I want to explain what a chapter is. A chapter in life is a period of time in which you remained in the same situation. We all go through different chapter in life. The chapters can be long, or short. Here are few examples

• College
• Job
• Marriage/relationship
• Where you are living
• Friends
• Annual. Some people like to start fresh every year

If you are graduating college this year, you may want to close the chapter of your life where you were a student. Saying goodbye to friends you’ve met and reflecting on memories you had during your studies.

If you are starting a relationship, you are ending your chapter of being single. If you are ending a relationship, you are closing the chapter on that relationship.

Moving to a new house? You are closing a chapter of that part of your life.

Step 1. Identify the chapter and why it is closing

What chapter of your life is ending? It is important to identify exactly what part of your life you are moving on from. 

Our lives are complex, so there could be multiple things going on at once, but there could also be one major life event that you are moving on from.

You might also want to identify if this is a positive chapter or a negative chapter.
Life comes with ups and downs, so sometimes closing a chapter means stepping out of a toxic part of your life.

Some examples of the end of a positive chapter include:

• Finishing college
• Leaving the single life behind (getting married)
• Leaving childless days behind (having your first baby)
• Children leaving for college (becoming an empty nester)

Some examples of the end of a negative chapter include:

• Getting a divorce/leaving a toxic relationship
• Separating from toxic friends
• Quitting a job that wasn’t good for you

2. Reflect and/or have closure

This is the time to analyze the chapter of your life that you are closing. Pull your journal out and start writing down some basic thoughts.

Oftentimes when people are moving on to a new chapter, it happens so fast that they don’t have time to sit with their thoughts and properly reflect on past events.

If this was a positive chapter you can write down all of the amazing memories, people and experiences that made this chapter such a wonderful time in your life. 

If you’ve achieved something big such as graduating college or becoming a mother, write about some of the struggles you faced and how you overcame them. 

You can also create a scrapbook or photo collage so you can look back on that chapter of your life.

If it was a negative chapter you can write down exactly what made this chapter so negative. This can be triggering, so don’t do this if you have extreme trauma. 

My advice if you are coming from a very traumatic situation is to try to work through it with a therapist.

What lessons did you learn from this chapter? 

What are some toxic behaviors and personality traits you should avoid in the next chapter of your life?

Step 3. Clean up

Closing a chapter means cleaning up and removing old (potentially negative) energy so that you can make room in your life for the amazing things that are to come.

I am a huge advocate for doing frequent life clean ups, even if you aren’t closing a chapter.

I think many people struggle with simply having too much stuff. But the stuff we accumulate has energy and also can be a symbol of certain times of our life. 

Here are some things to clean up:

Digital clean up:

No matter if it’s a positive or negative chapter we are closing, we can always make little tweaks to our digital life.

If you are finishing school to starting a new job where you will be using your computer a lot, I suggest cleaning out your computer.

Deleting old assignments and documents that are no longer relevant. 

For the documents that are relevant, you can back them up on an external hard drive so they aren’t cluttering your computer.

If you don’t have much to clean, you can always organize your digital space and make it more manageable.

Cleaning up social media

When couples have messy break ups, the first thing they do is go through their social media and remove all photographic evidence of the relationship.

It is a way to start healing and move on. 

Even if you aren’t splitting from someone, you can make changes that will reflect that your life is moving in a new direction

• Update profile photos across all platforms
• Update bio if necessary 
• Remove photos that may not be flattering, un tag yourself in photos that are unflattering
• Unfollow people that don’t align with the person you want to become
• Delete old posts that are inappropriate
• Update your work details if you are switching jobs
• Change your last name if you’ve been divorced

Physical clean up

Removing items that are attached to old, negative energy. Removing things from your life that don’t align with the person you want to become in your next chapter.

Burning photos (it can be therapeutic) from a toxic relationship.

4. Embrace change

Even though sometimes closing a chapter can be difficult, you must understand that having different chapters of life is part of the human experience.

Life is magical, mysterious, beautiful, challenging, complex and everything in between. The best way to live life is by living in flow with the universe and being open to each phase of your life.

Do your best to welcome each new phase of life with a positive attitude, and if you are struggling do not be afraid to get support from friends, family or a therapist.