The Harvest Examen

A practice for noticing what a season has given you.

We often move from one season of life into another without pausing to notice what has happened within us along the way.

The Harvest Examen is an invitation to look back, not to measure your accomplishments or decide whether you have done enough, but to notice what has grown.

Your harvest may include joy and accomplishment, but it may also be wisdom gained through disappointment, a boundary you learned to keep, a relationship that sustained you, clarity you didn't have before, or simply the realization that you made it through something difficult.

Whatever the season has held, take a little time to gather what you want to carry with you.

Prepare

Find a quiet place where you can be still for a few minutes.

You may want to bring a journal, but you don't need one.

Settle into your space and take a few slow breaths. Allow yourself to arrive where you are.

When you are ready, bring to mind the season you are reflecting upon. It might be the past few months, the past year, a season of work or caregiving, a relationship, a period of change, or simply a chapter of your life that seems to be coming to an end.

Don't try to remember everything.

Just begin to notice what rises.

Look Back

Slowly move through the season in your mind.

Remember some of the ordinary days as well as the significant ones.

Notice the moments that brought joy.

Notice what was difficult.

Notice what surprised you.

Notice where something changed.

Notice the people, places, practices, or experiences that sustained you.

There is nothing you need to fix or interpret yet.

Simply notice.

Gather

Now ask yourself:

What has this season given me?

Allow that question to sit for a moment.

Then, if it is helpful, reflect on one or more of these questions:

• What has grown in me?

• What have I learned?

• What has sustained me?

• What surprised me?

• What am I grateful to have received?

• What became clearer?

• What wisdom do I want to carry forward?

Write, draw, sit quietly, or simply name what comes to you.

Remember: not every harvest looks like success.

Sometimes what we gather is wisdom.

Sometimes it is courage.

Sometimes it is clarity.

Sometimes it is gratitude.

Sometimes it is the knowledge that we survived.

Receive

Take a moment to look at what you have gathered.

Resist the urge to immediately decide what comes next.

Instead, receive what this season has given you.

Offer gratitude for what deserves gratitude.

Offer compassion to the parts of the story that were difficult.

Honor what you have learned.

And allow what is still unfinished to remain unfinished.

Close

When you are ready, place your hands comfortably in your lap or over your heart and take one final slow breath.

You may close with this prayer:

God, help me recognize the fruit that has grown in this season of my life. Give me wisdom to gather what I need, gratitude for what has sustained me, and grace for what is still becoming. Amen.

Carry With You

As you move forward, return to this question whenever you need it:

What has grown in my life that I don't want to overlook?

You don't have to gather everything at once.

Notice what comes.

Receive what is yours.

Honor the harvest.

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Go Deeper

This practice grew from our reflection Before You Let Go, Gather the Harvest, an invitation to consider why noticing what has grown may be an important part of preparing to let go.

Read: Before You Let Go, Gather the Harvest →