Attachment

I found this article I wrote in November 2011 and I'm amazed at how pertinent it is today...still!

Black-Capped Chickadee

Moving often weaves a certain knowledge.  There’s a certain excitement that comes from learning a new place, meeting new people, learning new skills, leaving behind the security blanket of “the known”.  An attachment to these things then grows and many times we learn to identify with them as who we are.  Creating this feeling of without them…we lack, we lose.

I’ve found that most people seem to think that relocating is a very brave thing to do.  Maybe this is true. Maybe this stems from fear of losing oneself in reaching out for what is new…the re-identifying factor.

Speaking from a place of gypsy-ness, from that of adventure-seeker: When you stay in one place (typically referred to as settling down) your world evolves from dynamic to static.  One in which everything is defined and mapped out (by you).  This mapping takes time.  It takes time to get to know people, to have experiences with them at work and at play.  Birthday gatherings, cookouts, conflict and resolution, etc.  Then of course there’s that of learning your favorite new places.

Part of the adventure in moving is exploring those things all over again.  Defining a new map if you will.  But where it gets difficult for me is letting go of those previous favorites.  Letting go of my attachment to places, people, experiences, work environment, swimming holes, eateries, all of it.  

Do we leave people, places or experiences behind? Or do we take a part of them with us and leave a part of ourselves behind?

Some days I have to institute some serious mental discipline to not linger in the memories of those people and places from the past.  For in doing so, I sense that I’m blocking from entering my door even greater experiences, people and places.

Let it flow.  Just like the wild bird carries nothing with them on their flight from tree to tree, I too must let it be, leave it be and not attempt to fill my backpack with things that are better left where they are.  Because to drag them along with me inhibits us both.  So embrace the mere memory of these things.  Embrace all that it is where you found it. If you pick it up be sure to put it back where you found it.  Someone else may come along behind you and receive the same blessing from it.  And it will be much lighter if I don’t carrying this along with me and when the next great thing comes along I have the space to allow it to float through. 

This is my story.  Let it be.