I'm learning so much lately about letting go...loosening my grip...accepting that I am not in control.
Minimalism is often described as letting go of what isn't important, so we can make space for what is important. The practice of minimalism has enabled me to (along with my partner) raise my girls on a single, low income and to move overseas (twice). I've become very good at letting go of things in order to gain something else.
Lately, however, the letting go seems to have more to do with a lack of choice. It is more about accepting other's choices that affect me in impactful ways. I'm experiencing this both in my personal relationships, and in the greater societal context. I doubt I'm unique in that.
Today I read that nihilism (the belief that existence is pointless) is currently pervasive in the US. This from a nation that had 90% of people identifying as Christians in the early 1990's. The arguments that nothing has changed + everything has changed each have their validity. Personally, I'm just tired of being endlessly indignant. I'm not sure, but that feels adjacent to acceptance somehow. I don't like that either.
Years ago, I planted mint in our garden. It did well + looked great...until it started to come up in the middle of every plant around it. A few years after I planted it, I decided it had to go. It is just too invasive. Even now, every time I go out into the garden, I spot stray mint in the middle of one plant or another. I can't control it. So I pull it + make mint tea.
I have to admit that I'm trying to find the lesson as I write this. Hmmm. Let it be? Live + let live? Sure, but that doesn't really offer any promise of any good coming from the unchosen. I don't want to be a nihilist, so I want to find the good.
I'm reminded of The Overstory by Richard Powers. We understand the breadth of the forest's story by understanding how many human lifetimes come + go during its lifespan. If we humans are nature, and nature's story is so much bigger + longer than each one of us...then maybe we are just here to participate in the good that is...the good that goes on + on...and to make a little mint tea along the way. I think I can live with that.
Much love,
Jane
Minimalism is often described as letting go of what isn't important, so we can make space for what is important. The practice of minimalism has enabled me to (along with my partner) raise my girls on a single, low income and to move overseas (twice). I've become very good at letting go of things in order to gain something else.
Lately, however, the letting go seems to have more to do with a lack of choice. It is more about accepting other's choices that affect me in impactful ways. I'm experiencing this both in my personal relationships, and in the greater societal context. I doubt I'm unique in that.
Today I read that nihilism (the belief that existence is pointless) is currently pervasive in the US. This from a nation that had 90% of people identifying as Christians in the early 1990's. The arguments that nothing has changed + everything has changed each have their validity. Personally, I'm just tired of being endlessly indignant. I'm not sure, but that feels adjacent to acceptance somehow. I don't like that either.
Years ago, I planted mint in our garden. It did well + looked great...until it started to come up in the middle of every plant around it. A few years after I planted it, I decided it had to go. It is just too invasive. Even now, every time I go out into the garden, I spot stray mint in the middle of one plant or another. I can't control it. So I pull it + make mint tea.
I have to admit that I'm trying to find the lesson as I write this. Hmmm. Let it be? Live + let live? Sure, but that doesn't really offer any promise of any good coming from the unchosen. I don't want to be a nihilist, so I want to find the good.
I'm reminded of The Overstory by Richard Powers. We understand the breadth of the forest's story by understanding how many human lifetimes come + go during its lifespan. If we humans are nature, and nature's story is so much bigger + longer than each one of us...then maybe we are just here to participate in the good that is...the good that goes on + on...and to make a little mint tea along the way. I think I can live with that.
Much love,
Jane
