This blog is devoted to the art of letting go. I have written a bit about this in other blogs. I have addressed regret and all that good stuff... but I wish to take a closer look at the last let go. The last finger pulled from the holy grail. Do you remember Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Ok, let's go to the movies and see a good illustration of what I call, "the last finger let-go."
The Scene....The Temple of the crescent moon is now crumbling in classic Raider of the Lost Ark fashion, and the dumb, nazi blonde falls down a crevasse. Indiana catches her by the hand and pleads with her to stop trying to reach the Holy Grail which has fallen onto a ledge. Remember what happens? Yep. She bites the dust. While reaching, the glove comes off and she falls into that great abyss below the temple. How mysterious. But, then... the best part is that another tremor comes through and Indiana falls, holding only to his father's hand. Thus, the same scene begins again. But, no one can resist the wisdom of Sean Connery... Indiana listens to his father "Indiana, let it go." Let go of the one thing we have spent the entire movie seeking. Let go of what you want now. Let go. What happens? Yep, indiana swings his arm up and the two of them ride off into the sunset with Sala. Classic.
Sometimes books come too close to home. For those of you who have not read the Twilight series, THIS MAY GIVE SOMETHING AWAY!!! But, let's just say, I relate very much to the main character in Stephenie Meyer's Book, Eclipse.
Bella learns she has to let go of something she loves dearly and the book literally predicted the next month of my life. I mean look at the cover... doesn't it look like it? The last thread, waiting to be cut.
Now, what about the classic bible story? Do you remember Lots' wife? What happened to her? She had her chance to escape the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah, but in a fit of not letting go, she turned to look over her shoulder during their moment to flee and BANG she is a pillar of salt? (note: as a kid, I always pictured her as becoming a salt shaker here....) The important part here, is to look at what is in your heart. Lot's wife... (let's call her Regina because she should have a name other than "Lot's wife") was regretting her decision to leave and her heart was still back in the city.
Recently in my life, I had let go of something. But I was still looking over my shoulder. Someone who meant a lot to me, was gone. I wanted it too. But, I couldn't stop looking over my shoulder. I was gazing back at the city, wishing I hadn't left.
The worse part about this is that I don't want it to appear I don't believe in having hope and faith. But, there is something else involved.... humility. When something you want (or especially something you KNOW you shouldn't have) doesn't come, you can't lose yourself to nothing. You have the choice... to be happy or to mourn forever.
Honestly, letting go is hard. Whatever it is, it is painful and most of the time, unfair. (That is why I write....) However, nothing beats that moment when you have let go of something you wanted. You are not guaranteed any less pain, but the pressure is released. You know you have been blessed by (yet again) more experience, and you are no longer bound to a static situation. It is over. And you are yourself again.
2 comments:
Lovely post. A big chunk of the endless (indeed sometimes vicious) cycle that is life seems to be to learn this very thing. It is sometimes a terrifying concept - whether the letting go is something that is positive and sentimental in life, or negative and sentimental. Your musing struck a chord in me thru n thru; letting go is something that is a big thing in my life right now. Letting go from people I love and situations from my past that are holding me back in my strives toward a different future.
But in letting go, like you say, a new freedom emerges. It is a hard road to take sometimes, as old habits and comforts are so easy revisit. Emotions reside in our minds long after the moment of their conception - it is tempting to long for them. But when we become beholden not to them, but to ourselves, we emerge victorious in newfound freedom which we may not have known, or perhaps, had blinded ourselves from. 'Tis a good feeling, as self-conquering is a necessary motion in progression.
I wish I was as poetic as you and 'concrete fiction', but I too can relate to the experience of "letting go". It is just one of life's many paradoxes. As soon as you let go of something that you think you want more than anything, that is often the precise moment you receive what you most desire; only it isn't what you originally wanted, but something even better.
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