Beloved Reader!

As I started writing about the poem, I found myself dropping into a heavy energy. I worked on three drafts of this newsletter that all ground to a halt. I had step away for a while. I began to feel a little tense, as I like to have my newsletters out a few days before the first of the month. But I was stuck. How was the energy going to flow again?

This discomfort continued for a while longer. It wasn't pretty.

And then two different emails popped into my inbox, one following closely on the other. The first was about about becoming soft. The second one was about fall as a time of letting go. Together, these sparked energies to lighten up, and to move again.
 

I was being hard on myself, and that was not helping. I decided that it was worthwhile to become softer and kinder to myself. I began to poke my head out and take a look at the world around me again.

Fall is indeed in the air. The seasons have definitely shifted; we are leaving summer behind.

As the air crisps up, we bundle up in cozy sweaters and wraps. Trees change colour and leaves begin to fall. Those leaves let go so effortlessly… sometimes a breeze playfully helps their release.
 

I know people who hold on to painful memories far too long. I know how difficult it is to be around them in these states. And I know how painful it is to be that person myself. To endlessly recite wrongs done to us, as well as wrongs we have done to others only prolongs our suffering. Guilt, shame, the inability to forgive self or other…. whichever way you cut it, it hurts. It paralyzes.

Focussing on the problem creates more pain. So what is the solution? Where does the medicine lie?

I think of those leaves letting go so gracefully and effortlessly. I can even see the rain outside my window washing a few of them from their branches to the ground below. They do not fight to hold on; they release easily because it is time to let go. It is a marvel, and a message. It feels freeing. I feel lighter. 

And a fresh perspective rises up in me. One that is softer, kinder and more supple than the one that had me bound up in its clutches.

The past is part of us, all of it. The pain, the joy, the mistakes, the victories; all are an integral part of who we are now, and of what has brought us to this very moment. Let’s embrace it fully, warts and all, and love it with our whole hearts. Instead of looking back with regret, let's look forward to the next chapter with enthusiasm and curiosity. Let's appreciate the beauty that is always with us, and let's use the wisdom we have gained to set our course. The energy that is freed by letting go, can become the wind beneath our wings.

May this fall be a season of letting go with ease and grace.

In Love and Light,

~ Karusia Nirmala