A Year of Generous Letting Go

As I sit here, in the quiet of the early morning, and the warm glow of our Christmas tree lights, I consider the generosity of 2023. I marvel at how quickly time passes, and also at how I continue to learn to slow down in the daily moments.

Generosity has been a good word-for-the-year for me. Thank you Laurel for your generous offerings to me and many others each year. I look forward to the word that will guide and inspire me in the next year. Whatever growth and transformation I seek, practice makes progress possible. Laurel provides a tool for practical application.

Here are some of the words I wrote in early January, as I began applying my new word:

GENEROSITY is on my mind because it is my word for the year, thanks to my friend Laurel’s random selection for me. It is the 7th year in a row that whatever word she sends sets a lovely tone for the hours, days, weeks, and months ahead.

When I consider GENEROSITY, I think first of self-compassion and self-forgiveness. It has taken much time and effort for me to understand these generous endeavors. They are not selfish. They are liberating. From there, I tap more into the kindness and service that I can extend to others.

I wrote about everything from light, to road trips, silence, Nature, recovery, cool breezes, and a tractor ride in my monthly blog posts to honor the spirit of generosity. I also did some heart, soul, mind, and body work, and I arrive here composing on the generous, and liberating, practice of letting go. Accepting life on life’s terms. Trying easier. Friendly expectations of myself, rather than the unreasonable ones I used to flay myself with relentlessly.

Ease and comfort come in letting go, sometimes after plenty of hard work. Plenty. Lots of practice too. Lots.

Besides unrealistic expectations of myself, other “letting gos” I am working on include:

*What other people think.

*Fear of failure (open mic nights have been generous teachers).

*Yesterday and tomorrow.

*Assumptions—ones I make, and ones I assume others are making.

*The letting go of my son as he moves further into adulthood. A mother’s love never ceases, and letting go allows more love to keep flowing freely.

*My own mother, as her decline continues.

Letting go can be a tall order, and it can be painful at times, joyful at others. Generous pain, unburdened, unleashes a deeper joy. Life is funny that way.

Thanks again Laurel! Onward!

The warm glow of our Christmas tree lights this morning.