How exactly do you ‘let it go’? thelovingheartcafe.com /how-exactly-do-you-let-it-go/
What’s with all this ‘Letting Go’? I seem to be bombarded with ‘letting go’ messages at the moment. First my teenage daughters have been singing the ‘Let it go’ song from the movie Frozen, loudly and passionately, all around the house, for days. Then my husband excitedly introduced me to some of the You Tube spoofs of the same movie. And yesterday, Leo Babauta (of Zen Habits) announced a very useful free eBook about ‘letting go’ where he explains his approach. It got me thinking about it. What could I let go of in my life right now? What could I let go of that might free me up for something new? And how do I know what to ‘let go’ and what to keep?
Seems like a great idea. ‘Letting go’ sounds like a useful concept and many gurus offer it as a way to move beyond pain, broken hearts and other negative states. Buddhists practice ‘non-attachment’ which is a more passive version of ‘letting go’. But none of them really address the issue of HOW SPECIFICALLY we can ‘let go’. This is likely because we are all unique in the way we attach ourselves to people, ideas and things.
What is attachment? In order to ‘let go’ of something we need to be attached to it. So what is attachment? If we really understand how we attach ourselves to stuff, then perhaps we will get some insight into how we can ‘let go’. Attachment is an emotional identification with someone or something including non-physical things like ideas, emotions and beliefs. This means we feel a deep connection with the object of our attachment, as though it forms a part of our identity. So our attachments feel precious to us even though they operate mostly out of conscious awareness. For example, I am attached to my daughters and call this attachment ‘love’ and ‘family’. This is a valuable attachment because it motivates me to care for them, even when they are being horrible. This attachment is challenging at times but overall it is healthy because it fits with my identity of being a good parent. An unhealthy attachment would be one that causes a conflict with our identity, higher level goals or other attachments. I currently have an unhealthy attachment to sugar because it conflicts with my health goals and my desire to be a good role model to my daughters.
Sugar Babe Now I have identified an unhealthy attachment to ‘let go’ I can use it to explore my unique strategies. I love sugar. So how exactly do I do this attachment to it? I imagine sweet things by literally picturing them in my minds eye. I can conjure up images of cakes,