Hello Everyone! Are we ready to clear our path, let go of the clutter that blocks our path, and fearlessly take that first step toward authenticity?
Last weekend, after my morning walk, I decided to take care of some gardening tasks because I noticed I hadn't paid much attention to the cucumber plants in my small vegetable garden. The cucumber plants love this garden and grew well, but they had gotten to the point of being overgrown. They produced a few cucumbers, but some were bitter and not fully grown. Now that they are approaching the end of their season, half of the plants have turned brown, but still stubbornly occupy much of the garden area and cover up other plants nearby, choking the nutrients away and blocking the sun. As I cleared out the dead vines to make space and ensure that the other plants got enough sun, this garden started to look very metaphoric. I wondered if I kept half-dead overgrown routines, habits, or projects. If so, I wondered how many other things in life aren't getting enough sun and being able to live their full potential.
Later in the day, as I was making lunch, my knife felt a little dull while slicing a tomato, so I sharpened it. As I sharpened the knife, I realized that a knife's full capacity cannot be achieved unless we are willing to shave off the parts that have gone dull. Holding on to the past is like using a dull knife, refusing to sharpen it.
Lately, I have been feeling as though I am stretched thin with all the projects I have been taking on. I record, edit, and publish four different podcasts, write this weekly blog, prepare monthly mini-workshops, teach weekly classes, work on a commissioned art project, and work on setting up a new merch store (coming soon!). When we take on a lot in life, it takes a toll, just like a knife after being used a lot. I felt it was time for me to sharpen one of my knives called "work". So I meditated and looked at everything I did and looked for my "overgrown cucumber plant" that needed to be cleared out. After that, I spent this week re-organizing my priorities and restructuring how I dedicate time to each project.
Are we ready to make room for change? Let's sharpen our knives, clear the overgrown cucumbers in our lives, and allow ourselves to function at our fullest potential!
And this leads to this week's journal topic:
Think of an area of your life where you feel cluttered and stagnant. List everything you do with that area of your life. Do you see any dull knives? Do you see any overgrown cucumbers that need clearing? Write down all your thoughts and what needs to be weeded out of your life.
When you do this, imagine you are a gardener. What kind of plants are you trying to grow? What type of garden are you trying to create? When I looked at my "work" garden, I realized that I want to keep planting new seeds of creating content for my blogs and podcasts. I also saw creating the merch store as an interesting way to expand my business beyond just teaching art. Both content creation and setting up a merch store take a lot of time and dedication, so I looked for an overgrown cucumber in the teaching side of my work life. Sure enough, I found one type of class in which I was spending too much preparation time for not-so-great returns. After seeing this, I decided to cut that off for the rest of this year so that I could focus more on the areas I want to grow.
You may find your overgrown cucumber in how you spend your free time. You might want to do a passion project but feel there's not enough time. Taking a very honest look at your life may reveal the aimless time spent on YouTube, social media, or just randomly scrolling the newsfeed on your phone. We all have 24 hours a day, but how we use it is totally up to us. This is not to suggest that we become workaholics and neglect much-needed rest. Take this as an invitation to give yourself permission to let go of some items on your plate: you don't have to do everything.
Imagine you are at a buffet, and you get to choose and eat a wide variety of food being served there. If you don't like something on the plate, would you finish it just because they are there, or would you simply not finish it, get back to the buffet, and get more of the food you love? Your life's options are just like that. You get to pick what you want more in your life. You get to state your preferences and enjoy savoring the experiences.
It is such an oxymoron to say that we need to let go to become full, but it is so true. What occupies our space, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually matters. If we want to see ourselves at our fullest potential, we must not shy away from confronting the things that bind us, slow us down, and take time away from doing what we are truly passionate about.
Taking time to examine our lives and letting go of something that no longer serves us is one of the important self-love practices. And remember, whatever we choose to let go after this journal practice, we must let it go with love. Send appreciation for what it brought into our lives, the lessons it taught us, and the space it held in our lives. Enjoy sowing the new seeds, and keep experimenting. One day you will step back and see the most beautiful garden you have created that is uniquely you.
If you want to delve deeper into the practice of letting go, listen to the following podcasts from Whispers of the Heart:
"Letting go" from Whispers of the Heart Guided Meditations
"Releasing Burdens" from Whispers of the Heart Sleep Meditations
"Power of Letting Go: Embrace Change, Manifest Your Desires"- a 1-hour Dive Deeper Discussion
Happy journaling,
Noriko
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