Nothing like the experience of losing everything to teach you the art of letting go. This journey with Covid has been one long lesson of letting go. First, letting go of my health, my business, money, talking to people, getting out into nature, how I ate, doing daily exercise etc. etc. etc.... Truly a letting go of my whole way of being.
As I’ve been trying to see the gift in this experience it’s been hard not to want to get ahead of myself and imagine when I’m on the other side of this. It reminds me of the beginning of the pandemic when we all thought it would last three only months and couldn’t wait to have it all over. And then at a certain point there’s a realization that there is no other side to this experience. This IS the experience.... That there is no bad and good experience. This is life......
When I finally let go of my daily resistance and battle with what is, I freed up space to enjoy what was actually happening in this particular moment. To enjoy being quiet and by myself. To enjoy the resting and giving my body what it needs. Listening to my body. To enjoy doing nothing… It’s opened up other aspects to my being. It’s given me the time to think, process this experience, contemplate my life, muse like an artist. I’ve always enjoyed writing but this yin and contemplative time has given me the opportunity to express myself in another way besides my body and voice.
Now I hope that none of you have to experience what I have experienced to learn the art of letting go. Perhaps you can implement it in small and simple ways. Letting go of not getting enough done in your day. Letting go of the conversation that went a little sour. Letting go of the fact that you didn’t get your daily exercise in. Letting go of that big piece of chocolate cake you ate. Letting go of anything that you deemed negative which is by this point probably already in the past or some anxiety ridden idea of the future. All resistance to what’s happening, is in some ways a small injury to our spirit in it’s lack of acceptance of what is. I’ve found myself many times in this place throughout this experience and each time I realize how uncomfortable it is for me emotionally and energetically. I start feeling nervous or irritated. It feels to me like a lack of Presence. What I have found is that I’ve had to lower my perfectionist standards. Is this so wrong? Perhaps it’s even good for me? And in some ways it’s become quite freeing. We live in a world where mostly ‘doing’ is valued so it’s been a big paradigm shift to work on letting go into the ‘non doing’.
The art of letting go has leant itself to showing me the art of life and other possibilities within it. So the next time life hands you something that may not be to your liking, let go...let go...let go... And once you’ve let go a million times, let go again and see what gift arises. It might be just what you’re looking for. Trust life......