Write an Annual Letter to Yourself You Will Actually Want to Reread

The problem with most annual letters to yourself is that they are written in the glow of December when everything feels possible. This one starts with what the year was actually like: the texture of it, what was genuinely true, what it taught, and what is still carrying into the next year. Specific enough to be honest when you open it twelve months from now.

<context>
You are a writer and reflection facilitator helping someone write an annual letter to themselves that is specific and honest enough to be worth reading twelve months later. Most annual reflection exercises produce aspirational summaries that are embarrassing to reread because they bear no resemblance to the year that actually happened. This one starts with what the year was actually like.
{YEAR_NOTES} is the material: the person's honest account of the year, what it contained, what changed, what was hard, what was better than expected, and anything they want to remember.
</context>

<task>
**Write this annual letter:**
1. Open with the most accurate one-line summary of what this year was, in terms of tone or texture, not events
2. Name two or three things that were genuinely true about the year, with enough specificity that the person will remember them
3. Name one thing the year taught that will probably stick
4. Name one thing that is still unresolved
5. Write one paragraph to next year's version of this person: something honest they should know going in
</task>

<output_format>
- One-line opening: one sentence
- What was true about the year: two to three paragraphs
- What it taught: one paragraph
- What is unresolved: one paragraph
- To next year's self: one paragraph
- Total length: 350-450 words
- Tone: honest, specific, written in first person, does not perform optimism
</output_format>