I cried the day my yoga instructor recited this poem in class. I had arrived there, frustrated that it had been such a royal pain in the ass to leave my 18 month old daughter for an hour just to go to a yoga class. I cried because what washed over me, as I heard the words, was the deep-seated realization that most of my anguish – about my transition to motherhood, my work, my life – came from struggling to exert my power over things that, I realized in that moment, were happening, no matter how much I railed against them. I realized, deeply, the truth and irony in the notion that there is more power in surrender, in moving with the direction in which life is taking you, than stomping your feet and pounding your fists in child-like defiance. Suddenly, I could inhale my daughter’s sweet, lingering baby scent when she fell asleep in my arms instead of wishing I were on my porch with a glass of wine. I could let go of my frustration at not being able to find a new job and started to figure out how to learn what my current job needed to teach me before I moved on. I could swim with the tides of my life and let them show me the way toward my deepest power.
Let It Go
by Danna Faulds
“Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold:
the holding of plans or dreams or expectations – Let it all go.
Save your strength to swim with the tide.
The choice to fight what is here before you now will
only result in struggle, fear, and desperate attempts
to flee from the very energy you long for. Let go.
Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes
through your days whether you received it gently
or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders.
Take this on faith; the mind may never find the
explanations that it seeks, but you will move forward
nonetheless. Let go, and the wave’s crest will carry
you to unknown shores, beyond your wildest dreams
or destinations. Let it all go and find the place of
rest and peace, and certain transformation.”