loss/truth
Letting go is not loss. It is making space for what is true.
Jack Kornfield
What is true in this moment?
What has need to be released?
And what truth needs to be, in this moment?
The act of letting go is not always easy. The changes that come naturally with growing older are often hard to bear. Much that we have lost is not in our control…loss of those we loved, loss of mobility, loss of good health.
What we can manage is a shift in our focus from letting go to letting be. Letting be invites awareness of what is true, right now. It may still be the pain of loss, the pain fresh in this moment. And then…another letting be. Awareness of green grass. Awareness of green tea. Awareness of this breath.
The letting go of what was and what might be allows space so that the truth of what is can arise. Not all truths are pretty, though they are authentic. When we are loyal to the moment, our energy is present. Each moment gives us the opportunity to deepen into our truth. When we make space for that truth can we devote ourselves to living our fullest life.
The space created by allowing the past to be in the past, and the future to unfold on its own, allows us to breathe in and breathe out freely, artlessly. We can then truly give to ourselves and to others what is needed, what is wholehearted.
It could be that we fear letting go. Will it mean we no longer honour and respect the past? Will it mean we no longer plan for an extended healthspan? Of course not. It does, however, mean living with what is, right here—right now, even if for an instant. That instant is sacred. It is connection to our truth.
Strangely, in its etymological history, the word ‘truth’ is related to the word ‘tree’. A tree is undeniable. It stands firm. It is deeply rooted. It is steadfast. Trees often symbolise the biblical garden or the cabalistic tree of life. Many trees shed their no longer needed leaves to expose the truth of their trunk and branches, the wisdom that lies in their firm, solid form.
We too can let go in order to let be. While this process is available to all ages, it is perhaps most important as we face our mortality. We have decades of leaves to surrender so that our true tree, our steadfast self, is revealed—and inspired to be.