On Letting Go

When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into it’s dynamic quality, that’s called enlightenment

— Pema Chodron

At the start of each season, I revamp my closet—to take out the last season’s articles of clothing, and replace with items for the new season.

This year, I am doing the same with Kennedy’s closet, removing her three-month-old sunflower onesies and replacing with tiny knits. Unlike my closet, however, she won’t be able to rewear her items from last summer—she will have outgrown her summer pieces (actually, she pretty much already has outgrown them).

Usually, I’m not a sentimental person—at least not with material items—but part of me wants to hold onto Kennedy’s first pieces of clothing forever. I’m not ready for her to grow out of these sweet belongings, to let go of her smallest moments.

It seems a little metaphorical, going into Fall, the season of “letting go.”

I like to think of someone who lets go easily, but I realize there are pieces of me that have challenge in doing so.

When I hold onto something that is inevitably meant to change—whether it is the climate or the growth of my baby—I cause myself a bit of pain, in a sense. My heart aches because I want to control something that is uncontrollable, rather than accepting the change.

It is something I am working on as mother: letting go.

What is something you are holding onto? Could you release it? Allow it to move in its own manner, beyond your need to control it?

This Fall, I am practicing the art of letting go… to be less attached to beings and things, knowing all is meant to change.

xoxo — Megan