Letting Go

One of the hardest things in life…letting go. Letting go of people, expectations, outcomes, things that remind us of the good times, sometimes things that remind us of the bad times. Sometimes we are forced to keep some of the things that haunt us, though there is a peace that you can find in it, if you allow it. Living in the place where you’ve endured the unimaginable, the memories and thoughts that spring up, depending on the time of year, on a song, on a word, on a moment. I sit here with little kittens crawling all over me, boundless energy for those moments and then time for a hard nap. Playing is hard work, learning to be a cat.

Learning to be a human is hard work, the rules can be unclear, the outcome never guaranteed, except that we will all leave the earth eventually. We forget our energy as we get older. The machinery of the body can get bogged down by stresses, anxieties and the things that we do to mitigate them. There is a delicate balance between the life that we want and the life that we have. We can only be responsible for our part in it, but that turns out to be quite a bit of work. It takes time and attention, to the people who are important to us, to the things that are important to us. I speaks of things in the manner of hopes, dreams, aspirations, goals…material things can help us or hinder us in these pursuits.

Things, stuff, tools, clutter….the things that we are not using to better our lives may not actually hinder us, per se, but they take up space in our lives, and thus also in our minds. It is constant work to get rid of things, too; paying off the bills, cleaning, decluttering, getting rid of the old, making room for the new. Working full time, parenting fur children, furless children, caring for family, friends, being present; our minds are constantly filled with the things we are doing, should be doing, need to do, even those that we don’t need to do. The barrage is tiresome and we need a break from it, reprieve, moments where we can detach. There are many ways to get outside of ourselves, but the healthier ones are easier on our bodies and our minds for the long haul. Removing the things that are not helpful to us gives us more space for clarity, and so my project this month is to remove those things that are not helpful. Preparing for a new year full of adventures, growth, progress, clarity, health and peace, and wishing that for all.