Alex Potter shares her family’s Christmas ritual

It wouldn’t be Christmas without…

… writing a list and throwing it in the fire.

And no, I’m not talking about that long list of presents you’ve scribbled on the back of an envelope and have been working your way through since the middle of November. The crumpled, folded-up list that’s taken up residence in your handbag, along with the fluff-covered lip-gloss and leaky biro. The list that despite being ticked off, seems to magically grow longer…

Though quite frankly, if you’re someone like me, who spends every Christmas Eve clutching it in my woolly mitts as I race up and down the high-street doing my last minute shopping, I’m sure you’d quite happily chuck it on the fire come the 25^th.

I love Christmas as much as the next person, but I’m always relieved when the gift buying is over!

Nope, I’m talking about a different kind of list entirely. The one that every year my friends and family write on New Year’s Eve. A secret list that no-one but you and the universe get to see. It’s become a family tradition, a ritual that we observe every year, and it’s become as much a part of Christmas as all the other traditions.

This is a special time of a year, and many ancient cultures believe in the magic of New Year’s Eve to cleanse yourself of anything from the old year that you don’t wish to take into the coming one. Be it fears or regrets, heartache or painful memories, ill-health or bad habits, this is the time you can leave the past behind and move, unburdened into the future.

First, light a fire. Then, take a piece of paper and write a list of all the things you want to be rid of, or if you prefer draw pictures, or use symbols. Then, at the stroke of midnight, throw it into the flames. As it burns away, sparks will well and truly fly. So be sure to make a wish! Because as the past burns away, the path is cleared and your wish will be carried on those sparks, sending your hopes and dreams out to the universe, to be blown by the wind into the New Year.

I wrote about this ritual in Don’t You Forget About Me, where a heartbroken Tess throws a shoebox of memories from her failed relationship on to the fire at the stroke of midnight on NYE, while at the same time wishing she’d never met her ex. Now, I’m not suggesting you go to the same lengths as Tess, but it’s fun and symbolic and, as the clock strikes midnight and the sparks fly, it really does feel quite magical.

And you never know, like Tess, your wish might just come true…

Alex Potter’s new novel, LOVE FROM PARIS, is out now.