{ MANIFESTING YOUR TRUE PURPOSE } { SHIFT+CONTROL }
THE ART OF RELEASING BY LISA WAGNER
How To We Learn to Let Go Creatively In life, the hard road is the one we tend to resist. Especially after all we’ve been through the last two years. We are worn out and on edge with little left to give; even to ourselves. We tire more easily, and we avoid it by partying hard or by continuing to stay put because it feels a lot safer for many of us. Unfortunately, that is what’s holding you back from reconnecting with your joyful self. Joy is your true essence and until we learn the art of releasing that which no longer serves us or our growth, we stay stuck in limiting patterns and beliefs. Learning how to let go creatively means trying new things and the potential for an expansion of our hearts. Throughout our lives, we are tested by our deepest fears that can prevent us from our expanding our souls. This is just here to prove to us our own humanness and what makes each of us precious beings. We are here to learn from and then conquer them. We have listened far too much to outside opinions, expectations and advice that wasn’t always in our best interest. As if, had we not tried to live up to them or adhere to the “rules,” we were inherently failing ourselves and those who we believed were judging us. That’s where our first errors happen. It usually stands to bear that no one is paying attention to what we’re doing as much as we imagine. Their happiness isn’t hinging on anything we do most times. Funny that we hold that up as fact and run around people-pleasing & acting within societal norms. If I did my artwork in accordance with what others thought, I never would have made a single piece. 274
ROCHESTER WOMAN ONLINE : MARCH EDITION 2022
Have you ever ventured out of your comfort zone and done what you know resonates more divinely to your soul? It’s scary that first go-around but completely worth it! Try to imagine what would happen if you did that scary step. What if you wore that cute bikini to the beach or started dancing in public? You probably don’t know anyone, and you’ll never see any of them again. Once you do that hard thing, it suddenly hits you that you’ve allowed yourself to reconnect to your joy. It’s the bliss we rarely allow ourselves as adults. We lose it along the way towards adulthood. Imagine a three-year-old worried about anyone’s opinion and they’re the happiest people I’ve ever met.
You were born with the innate ability and inner guidance to know exactly how to find your purpose and then shows you how to get there. Joy is your truest essence and it’s the most patient and loving constant in our lives; even when times are the hardest. How many times do we pray and spend the entire time asking instead of sitting quietly and just listening to the guidance available to us? When you imagine what it is you wish for, how does it feel? Stay in that feeling and then allow in the support that awaits you. Watch for signs that are meaningful to you as a confirmation that you are on the right path. They’re always showing up for you as a means of encouragement and comfort.
Each step we take to remove our own beliefs about what is keeping us safe from pain, we move ourselves closer to feeling alive again. Another simple thing we can do is set intentions about how we want to feel going forward and what we will need to release to achieve that. The Universe is always conspiring to bring us what it is we wish or hope for. Some emotions or patterns are easier to let go of than others. So, start with simple ones like wanting to control outcomes of things that matter to you; if you’ll get promoted, find the love of your life or, as an artist, how the work I had all planned out in my head looks nothing like it once I’ve finished it. All those hopes, dreams and plans we have for ourselves usually pale in comparison to what the Universe has in store for us. But only if we can allow them to take the lead and trust that we will be guided and held. When we try to control the outcome, we are actually blocking what we wish to attract to us.
Grief can hold us in its grips like a strait jacket that is continually tightening around us. We are left feeling out of breath and out of control. Yet, we are always being supported by something greater than ourselves. If we lean into the love that is offered to us, grace and some good therapy can then allow us to start healing. We are meant to move forward once we’ve fully experienced its throws. There is more for us to see, experience and offer the world. Your pain can and will offer others hope. It’s in that moment that we are our most powerful. We can affect positive change. Today, try breaking out a piece of paper and write out exactly how you’re feeling without judgment. Write down whatever you’re being called to let out. Then begin to draw and scribble over the top of it. A line, a hard scribble, a shape that represents how you feel. Use colors that you are being drawn to and fill the paper. Just let go and let whatever
