Non-attachment
Many years ago, I read A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. I loved it and found it intellectually stimulating. I remember spirited conversations in my living room as our book club wrapped our minds around pain bodies (a term used to describe negative emotional "baggage") and even shared some of our own.
I recently read it again, as a suggestion from my sister. This time, I found it an altogether different experience, far less intellectual and pointedly spiritual. This time, I experienced Tolle's words as a signal of my own journey. Though pain bodies continue to be profound, non-attachment (a term used to describe letting go) sits with me most pointedly right now. It is particularly relevant as my life, work—and the lives and work of so many people in the U.S. and around the world—are changing dramatically. "This too shall pass."
Everything is temporary, good and bad. Remember the happiest moments of your life. They hopefully fill your heart with gratitude. That's their purpose. To be beautiful is a testament to what is possible. Not to be permanent. The bad moments of the past also serve a purpose. They help us grow. They force us to face darkness, which makes the light beyond even more powerful. Every stage, season, and experience is an opportunity to learn. Judging comes easily. But observing ourselves moving through it is a growth opportunity.
The Season of Release
Much of my attention over the past months has been with the who is being attacked or what is being cut. Friends, family members, colleagues, and clients have all been impacted by reductions in funding, positions, and healthcare. At the same time, almost with painful irony, there are so many people winning. Really winning. Closing big deals, landing new opportunities, and expanding their reach. What's the difference between the two? Are the former just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Unlucky? Not energetically aligned to receive the gifts of the world? It can't be that simple.
However, some of those who are reaping their fortunes amid chaos and uncertainty are doing some things very well. Primarily, they seem to be able to let go of attachment.
Letting go of attachment means releasing:
Letting go of attachment—to the past, the imagined future, the wishes and expectations of what could have been or was supposed to be—allows for something quite powerful, freedom. From this space, we become fully present, observant, grateful, and perceptive. We notice the gifts that have been right in front of us all along and can welcome in opportunities that surely always come.
As you consider your own experiences right now, pay attention to where you are mentally, emotionally, energetically? Are you holding on? Are you tuned out? Are you imagining? Are your heart and mind open to possibilities? Perhaps the most important opportunity in this and every moment is to make a choice. Choose how you will show up, with intention and hopefully openness to the unexpected gifts that will certainly come (time TBD).
In Community,
DeEtta
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