When growth requires goodbye
I recently attended the concert of a band I used to love.
I say used to because I haven't listened to them in a few years.
When I did, I'd play their album on repeat, top to bottom.
I hardly skipped a song.
I'd run to their music.
Drive long hauls singing at the top of my lungs.
Not only was the beat good, but their lyrics moved me.
Things like:
I can see in your eyes dear
That you can’t take
A moment more
We’ve got to
Burn the ships
Cut the ties
Send a flare
Into the night
Say a prayer
Turn the tide
Dry your tears
And wave goodbye
After that album, I took some much needed space...
from people and places- even music- that didn't fully align with where I was anymore.
And that was terrifying.
I took so much comfort in what I'd known.
But in their place, I discovered -and re-discovered- so much good, that met me on an entirely new level.
New Wisdom that offered Truth in words I better understood and could receive.
New friends that celebrated parts of me I had been shamed for in the past.
New people and places that could practically assist me in my healing journey.
Not to mention, meeting aspects of God- or the Divine- I hadn't experienced since childhood ... or ever!
Had I not made room, I never would have experienced these valuable gifts.
I would have stayed stuck
- angry, tired and hurting.
Growth requires us to let go, as well as, embrace.
A balancing act
- like the Feminine and Masculine energies we all carry within us.
When we refuse one side, we don't receive the full picture
Or the full power!
I find myself returning-
Wandering back to some (not all ) of the things I took space from....
the aforementioned band included.
The old me would have scoffed at that. Seen it as back tracking or admitting I made a mistake, when I hadn't.
But life is cyclical, not linear, and I'm coming at it from a completely different vantage point now; higher up the winding staircase.
I'm looking down, peering over the railing with enlightened understanding.
My heart is open; my mind quieter. I see without the old lens:
past hurts, trauma, conditioning, fear, shame
For me, it took walking away to heal certain parts.
... Cutting ties
... Turning the tide
.... And waving goodbye
At least for a time.
What is it in your life?
Where are you being asked to let go, beckoned to new life?
The one-way friendship that drains without nurturing you.
The project, job, or dream that's too small, has you settling, or makes you shrink to feel safe
The parts of your personality you hide or stuff down in fear of hurting others or being rejected
A lack of boundaries or stifling your voice instead of expressing how you truly feel, what you need, what you will/will not accept.
Guilt for wanting more or cradling a longing so deep it hurts
Perhaps it's me and this newsletter!
Whatever it is, pay attention.
Listen for what's below the surface.