Ring Out The Old - Happy New Year 2011
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
~Alfred Tennyson 1850
That's only the first stanza of that poem, which continues with the call to let go of grief, the "feud of rich and poor", false pride, dying causes, etc., and bring in "nobler modes of life", "peace", "the larger heart, the kindlier hand", and "the Christ that is to be".
While it seems obvious to suggest that in order to welcome the good into our lives we must let go of the "bad" or negative or that which is not serving us, in a more general sense it seems we often need to "make room", either physically or even spiritually, for what we want to bring in, by letting something go.
We hear this often in something as seemingly mundane as clutter-clearing, that we must part with some old stuff if we want to have room for the shiny and new to come in, or things that are more up to date or more "who we are".
In Feng Shui, where the home is often seen as a metaphor for our lives, we think about physically "making room" in our lives, in our homes, for other things to come in, not simply in the sense of clearing room to allow the chi or life force energy to flow freely through a space, but in more symbolic ways. For instance, if you want to attract a serious romantic relationship but every closet in your home is already filled to the brim with your own things, I might suggest that you make space (in closets, in rooms) for the potential new mate to move into. Indeed this can be more than symbolic or metaphorical, as a prospective partner might visit your home and think "gee, this person's life is already so full, there is no room for me."
Sometimes letting something go to allow for something new to come in has to do with things we want to do in our lives, as opposed to things we want to have. For instance if we wish to take up a certain hobby or sport or make time for travel or even more time for family outings, but already have a full schedule, it's probably not going to happen. As they say, "something's gotta give".
This is the case in my own life right now, as I intend and desire for more soul coaching and feng shui work to materialize. I have had to realize that I can't really do it all, or at least, do it all well. So having already released the commercial part of my former photography career a few years ago, I realize that I am having now to let go of the idea of having much of a serious art photography career as well. Not that these things are incompatible, (many folks have careers and are artists "on the side"), but simply in terms of having time -- to photograph and print and market my work, as well as keep up with digital technology, and even upgrading equipment and skills as seems to be necessary in the digital realm.
It is also a question of allocating resources besides time, as in money that might be spent on photographic equipment or printing and framing is needed to buy supplies for my workshops or for creating the appropriate space to do my work, and building my resource library. There's the issue of physical space to do the work, that is, if it is filled to the brim with framing materials and prints, then where do I hold my meetings or store my workshop materials? So, something has to give.
At the same time I am juggling the needs of my other career pursuit, although I haven't seen it so much as a career as a hobby, with some minor income potential, and that is the lavender farm. I have built it and invested so much back-breaking work as well as time and money in this, but it is first and foremost a labour of love, a delight in the beauty and scent of the flowers and their contribution to the overall beauty and uniqueness of this land we steward.
The products we make from the lavender are really by-products of the fact that we created a lavender field and other special gardens and felt we should make the most of this creation by utilizing the buds and perhaps recouping some of our investment. Sharing the lovely scent and therapeutic appeal of lavender with others is also a great joy. And the farm market each weekend last summer was a lot of fun although a lot of preparation too. Again, it is a matter of prioritizing. What do I really want? And what do I need to let go of, or at least minimize, in order to fully commit to what I want the most?
The other part of letting go is a bit more philosophical, that is, beyond the time and money and physical requirements of choosing one thing over another, there are the intangibles. The tough one I have bumped into is identity.
It is part of our society it seems, being such a "do-er" society, where our markers of "success" seem to be tied to what our job is, or other roles we assume, how "busy" we are, as well as how much money we make from what we do.
For 14 years or so people knew me as a photographer. I knew me as a photographer, although if I am honest, I have never been passionate about photography. It was something that started as a hobby I enjoyed and then discovered I could do it quite well at a certain level and from that it became a modest career. And I have enjoyed some minor recognition as an artist in that field.
So as I have been "clutter clearing" photographic equipment I no longer use, offering some for sale, I have had these little tugs at my heartstrings as I make choices about what to let go of because in the process I see my identity shifting, from photographer to soul coach. I think my private identity had already shifted a while back once I made a decision to take up the new work, but with the physical letting go of my tools of the trade I am more directly confronted with the reality that, for instance, I won't be able to do any more studio work or darkroom printing, and a whole body of work and chapter of my life may be coming to an end.
And every time I re-commit to letting something go to make room for the new it seems the universe conspires to test my resolve. For example, as I try to sell my gear, I run into folks I haven't seen in a while and they greet me as,"oh, here's the photographer! How are you?" When I first decided for sure to no longer do commercial studio work, after months of nothing coming in, the phone suddenly rang with a couple of job prospects.
What I want to say is that as you invite new things in to your life, sometimes you have to let go of your identity, or your identification with what you had or did, to make room for the "new you". That can be very challenging and things will happen to verify your level of commitment.
It can cause confusion, retracting, renegotiating with yourself about your choices, (uh, maybe if I only do this I could still do that...?"), and ultimately requires of us constant re-commitment to what we DO want and the continued prying of fingers off what we decide must be left behind in order to fully move forward. In terms of career choices it can be very very difficult, if not impossible, to have a foot in both worlds of two diverse careers.
If you wish to be on a path of mastery in your chosen field those hard choices of leaving something behind must be made. It is hard to attain mastery by playing safe. You need to commit fully to what you want, and the hardest part about that sometimes is letting go of the rope that keeps you tied to something else. It's not about being reckless but about calculating the risk and then having the faith in yourself and your dreams to give it your best shot. And then keep at it.
I'm taking a deep breath.... what are you willing to let go of to move into the life you want?
Happy New Year!
~Mary
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