We had a little fun yesterday for April Fool’s Day, but today let’s be a little more serious. What do we need to let go of this month?
What it Means to Let Go
When you let go of something, you clear it out of your physical, mental, and emotional space. You retain the memories, but those memories should lack the emotional impact that the object or event formerly had in your life. If you choose to remember, you can do it without the “cringe” or the almost physical pain that the memory formerly caused you.
How To Let Go
I have two areas where letting go is difficult. The first are objects. I’m a crafty person and the week before last I cleaned out my office. This included a huge pile of works in progress (WIP), some of which have been dragged around for ten years! Did I experience pain and anguish over releasing these projects? Yes! But ruthlessly I threw out or recycled every single project. Knitting projects got ripped out so I could use the yarn elsewhere. Other projects weren’t worth trying to save the individual components and nothing there was worth donating.
The second area where I have trouble letting go is emotional memories. Unlike physical objects, to let go of a painful memory is more difficult. You can’t just fish around in your brain and dump the stuff you don’t want to remember in the trash! Instead, I use a little mental ritual to work on these memories.
When a painful memory arises I force myself to stop and fix the memory in my mind like it is a painting. I visualize myself blowing a strong wind against that memory painting and that wind begins sweeping away the image as if it were made of flour. While doing this I think “I no longer need this” and watch as the painting dissolves.
This process takes some time. I have a few painful memories that I’m still working on dissolving. But many of the everyday “cringe” memories can be softened or divested of their emotional impact right away. I invite you to try this yourself!
What to Let Go
I pulled the Nine of Wands to find out what the Tarot suggests we all work to let go of this month. The Nine of Wands is all about standing your ground, protecting yourself, and readying yourself for the final push toward your goal. It also can represent the barriers we put up, the feeling that we are alone in our struggle, and the notion that we have to keep fighting.
For me, this card suggests I let go of the struggle for a bit. Lower barriers and allow helpers in for support. We are only alone because we choose to be. We don’t have to be alone!
It feels strange to say you should let go by bringing something or someone in, but that is what this card suggests. Allow yourself to hire someone to do that thing you put off for so long. Talk to your friends and ask for their help (and offer your help to them). If you avoided seeking professional help for a physical or mental issue, make that appointment! Let go of the feeling you need to handle everything by yourself!
What Clients are Saying about Sophrosyne Tarot
I was advised to ask open-ended questions instead of predictive questions which I thought was helpful because I never would have known if it weren’t for the reader. The reader provided the reading along with some advice too so the entire reading was very thorough and explained in an understandable manner.
Everything said was accurate and helpful for me to identify my flaws in order to grow as a person. I have learned a lot about tarot and what it does to help me.
I have trouble letting go of physical items. I finally cleaned out my closet a couple of months ago. There were clothes that I hadn’t worn in over 25 years. But it was difficult — maybe it would come back in style again LOL
I needed both the physical and mental space from that cleaning!
I’m in the process of cleaning out my bedroom and I feel this so hard! But on a daily basis I wear just a handfull of what I own, so I’m being very tough with myself. If I haven’t worn it in a year, out it goes!
What a terrific blog post! I love how you get rid of memories- with your blowing them away technique! Physical objects can be hard to let go of, and emotions and memories, even harder, I find. Excellent suggestions! Thank you!
OK, letting go is not as easy as just letting go- sometimes the unfinished situation is what you need to let go of but because it’s unfinished- you need to closure in that experience. And if impossible to get that closure, you cannot let it go! Any suggestions here?
Getting closure is difficult for sure! I suggest first identifying the unfinished situation and what exactly what closure for that situation would look like. It is important to remember you can only change or manage yourself and your own emotions – not those of others. For example, say I have an unresolved issue with a relative. To get closure I think that that relative needs to apologize to me and make amends. I can’t force that person to apologize to me or to make amends. I can’t force them to feel sorry for their actions. All of that is out of my control! So how can I let go of the need for an apology and making amends? I start by addressing my own emotions around the issue and work on getting rid or minimizing those feelings.
Every situation is different and equally difficult. Center your need for resolution around what actions you can make yourself, to your own attitude and life. In the above case, since the other person involved doesn’t think they did anything wrong, all I can do is realize my resentment and hurt isn’t affecting the person who caused the problem. I’m punishing only myself by hanging onto those emotions. It took time, but I did reach closure and no longer consider them a part of my life.