Reflections

 Come,

Sit with me a while,

In comfortable silence or animated chatter,

Whichever you prefer,

For though I am no longer here,

I am always there.

The Art of Letting go

 

The beauty of Nature is not just in her magnificence but in her innate wisdom.

 

I am reminded of this on a November morning walk in the forest. An unusual but not unheard of 17 degrees for an Irish winter. A warm breeze shushes through the trees causing a soft swirl of ochre flakes to fall around me. It really is a magical moment and I look upwards at the leaves, now dead and discarded yet beautiful in their last flight as they float to the forest floor to converge with the previous fallen to eventually form a nutrient rich mulch that will sustain the surrounding flora. Mother Nature is doing timelessly and effortlessly an act that we as humans continuously struggle with – the art of letting go.

 Of my own struggles and from conversations with friends, letting go seems to be the one thing that is universal to all humans. Whether it is a real or imagined jibe, intended or unintended rejection.  We hold unto, ruminate on and regurgitate these situations, to the point that we miss the beauty of the moment around us whilst mulling on our perceived injustices that have passed.

 As I am writing this I am reminded of a situation where I once  had a very bright, very lime green raincoat. I never gave it much thought other than it was handy to have in your bag should it start raining. On one such occasion I was getting on a bus wearing said jacket when one of a group of teenage boys sitting at the back of the bus shouted out, “hey look, “Kermits   on the bus”. I  can remember that now as if it was yesterday, the embarrassment of being publicly laughed at and ridiculed… that actual  situation happened over 40 years ago.

 So lets take a leaf out of Mother Natures book, trust in the process, and let it go.