To Let it Go

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal:

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it,

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

Excerpt from the poem “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver (taken from “The Call: Discovering Why You are Here”; © Oriah Mountain Dreamer. All Rights Reserved; p. 101)

I have wanted to create a blog for a long time. It is ironic that I rarely post a status on my Facebook profile but that I now feel the need to express myself on the World Wide Web!

I hope to blog about my faith and art and other things of this world that interest me: fashion, art, interiors (including indoor plants - I am a child of the seventies after all!).

I didn’t however plan on starting at a time of flux – the result of a broken engagement. This experience is currently informing how I view my world and how I want to live my life, and, as the title suggests, it’s time now to let go.

So, to let go I have recently done the following, which I can highly recommend:

1. Move furniture around the house (the practical solution to running away).

2. Watch a television series – ALL back-to-back episodes. My choice, this time, was “Love My Way”. Previous break-up series include the complete “Gilmore Girls” (yes, the ENTIRE season…sad times) and “Gossip Girl”. My friend, B, recommends “ Mad Men” and “Secret Diary of a Call Girl”. A series is more cathartic than a movie as in times of despair it provides something to look forward to! And time is a true friend when this happens.

3. Reclaim yourself. My fiancé disliked large or dangly earrings and the colour maroon so I am now ensuring that each day I feature a component of these in the way I dress. As the relationship developed I did advise him that my Mimco rose-gold hoops were my “signature”, but, I hate to admit it, I soon wore conservative studs in his company. (Note: Reclaiming oneself must NOT involve a drastic hair-cut – this can be dire).

4. Read Maya Angelou (“Wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now”).

5. Listen to Joyce Meyer and Father Thomas Hopko pod casts – preferably when walking up a very steep hill. Not only faith strengthening but good for the calves!

6. Replace perfume. I have moved from Issey Miyake to its nemesis; Tocca’s “Florence” – from cool and crisp to the smoky floral of an Italian alleyway.

MOVE, WATCH, LISTEN & REPLACE…

I am in the process of letting go. It’s a great feeling. Further posts will be less indulgent I promise!