The best way I can think of to explain this piece of letting go is to share some of my recent experience with you.  I recently heard the suggestion of writing during bad moods, bad times, and then burning them on the full moon.  This idea resonated with me, and helped me to realize that I was ready to let go of a time in my life more than 15 years ago that I’ve been holding inside me.

So I knew I had a lot of papers that I wanted to burn, but figuring out where to do this was the difficult part.  We live in a condo, and I didn’t think I could do it safely there.  Ideally, I knew, that I would be somewhere quiet and alone where I could make this space for myself.  As it turned out, the fireplace at my parent’s house made the most sense.  So with the background noise of my mom, husband and daughter, and later with an interruption from my dad, I let go of my past.

There was still ritual as I looked into the fire, watched the papers curl and burn, quietly spoke my mantra over and over again.  I let go of my past to make space for the future.  I let go of the past to make space for the future.  And there was ritual in the gathering.

I decided that I didn’t want to re-read everything – too time consuming, too emotionally draining.  I went through stacks of papers and journals fairly quickly, but here, for this part of the process, I was alone and quiet.  I was able to be aware of what a huge step forward this was, and it released any feelings of uncertainty that I may have had.  By the time I was at my mom’s burning the papers, it was the most natural thing I could be doing, I felt it in my heart, and that was all that mattered.

As with many things in life, we often get so caught up on the situation being perfect and we tie that to our notion of whether something was a success or not.  This process was good practice of letting that idea go.  Another good time to let the idea of perfection go is when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.  Knowing what the experience means for you in your heart and staying connected to that feeling is what is most important.  The rest will shift, and that’s perfectly okay.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Xandra