Hello, friend!
Did you get a chance to read through October’s monthly theme yet? This month is all about shedding, both in the outer world and in our lives. Let’s mirror nature and allow for what wants to be released to fall to the ground.
Without further ado, let’s get into it :-D
To start us off this week, we’re focusing on
Letting Go
“There is a subtle magic in the falling of old leaves.”
—Avijeet Das
As autumn ushers us into her beautiful realm, there is wonder and ache laced in the change from green to reds, yellows, oranges, and browns. There is a tenderness in the turning.
In letting go, we offer back to the winds what we have grown, loosening our tight grasp and opening our palms to the skies. We let what needs to move on do just that. We recognize the impermanence of life and surrender our need to stay the same. In the release of control, there is room for both grief and relief, for nostalgia and hope to coexist.
There is freedom in following nature’s cues. What does this look like?
Letting go…
Prepares us for what’s to come.
When trees slow their chlorophyll production, this is an act of energy conservation. The greens fade to reveal the underlying pigments of the leaves before they lose their hold and release from the limbs.
In the shifting seasons, we also need to conserve our energy. We are limited in what we can put our energy toward, especially in harsh conditions. Knowing this, we can refocus our energy on life-sustaining areas and let the extras go.
This can be difficult to allow if we’re used to thinking we should always be building towards more. But the truth is, we are living in a harsh world already, and refocusing our energy can both preserve our energy and protect our health.
In preparation for what’s to come, we also remember that letting go is essential in making room for new growth down the line. Working with the cycles of life and of the earth, we recognize that the things we’re releasing are meant to shed. Future growth requires seasons of pruning and shedding.
It’s a natural part of life.
We are as cyclical as the world we live in. This season of letting go is just that—one season. It’s not forever. Let that breathe some hope into your heart today if you’ve been resisting the thought of what lies beyond the shedding (what looks like barrenness in winter could simply be dormancy).
We’re not meant to carry everything indefinitely. This applies physically, emotionally, and intellectually. We grow, we change, and our priorities might shift, too. This is natural. But who we are at the core is steady. Our worth is undiminished.
Letting go can look like simplifying our spaces, our schedules, and our priorities in order to free up space in our homes, our time, and in our minds. We are moving into the slower and simpler months. Now is the time to start letting go of the bulky extras that won’t serve us in the coming season.
It’s not something to be forced.
We don’t have to force the release. When we move our focus to what is necessary, the transition begins on its own.
We might not feel as tightly connected to the things we enjoyed over the last year. Maybe we sense it’s time to move on from spaces that we’ve poured into but don’t have much to offer in return. Perhaps we look around our room and see things that served a purpose but don’t any longer.
One way to look at this is to ask, What is already loosening from your life? Is there anything that’s lost its vibrancy that you’re ready to let go of?
Perhaps it’s simply a seasonal change, much like switching out your summer wardrobe for sweaters and jeans. If you are setting things aside for this season, what makes the most embodied sense to let go of, even if it’s just for now?
It’s beautiful.
When we honor what has served us and allow it to release on its own, it’s a sight to behold. Like the golds and rusts of autumn leaves, surrender can result in a glorious display of tenderness.
Yes, there is beauty in the lush greens of summer, of joyous long days spent in the sun. But there is also beauty in the sweet surrender that tinges with sadness as we move into the darker months.
Letting go is more than a willful act of freedom. It is a posture of relaxed being that allows what is no longer serving to move on. To let what needs to fall, fall. To release and be at peace in it. To stand tall and strong and allow our vulnerability to show. To bare ourselves, bit by bit, in order to be able to build ourselves up once more.
What is ready to be released in this season?
Or,
What are you witnessing being released in your life already?
As someone who enjoys different ways of looking at things, I love a good exercise in creative visualization.
Imagine yourself as a tree trunk. Imagine the branches as different parts of your life. The leaves are the things that flow from those things — they shift and change with the seasons.
Either through a picture or a list form, write down what’s on your leaves. This can take the form of things you’re grateful for, what you are working on, or what your hopes are. They can be memories, hobbies, or disciplines.
As an act of letting go, recognize that they are temporary, whether or not they remain active in your life now, and say “thank you” for each one.
Gratitude can make letting go, when the time comes, a bit more easeful.
P.S. If that all sounds way too involved, that’s fine! You could also simply be aware of what needs to be released and practice letting go internally.
As we let go with a posture of surrender, we can relax into new ways of doing and being as the season turns, rather than fighting the natural progression of things.
Sending so much grace this week as we all loosen our grasps and allow the transitions to take hold.
~Sara