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Greetings!
Welcome to LifeWork Letter!
This month marks the second anniversary of the
Letting Go Experiment I began in June of 2006 and
recorded in my blog over a period of sixteen months.
Now, two years later, it's time to take another look at
the process of letting go and the practice of non-
attachment.
Speaking of non-attachment, it is perhaps fitting that
this June newsletter will arrive in most of your
mailboxes on July 1st!
Wishing you a Happy Summer and a Happy Fourth of
July holiday!
Connie
| Theme Quotes |
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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.
- Mary Oliver
To hold, you must first open your hand. Let
go.
- Tao Te Ching
He who binds himself to a joy
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise.
- William Blake
These quotes, and many more on this theme, can be
found on Gaia.com.
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| Letting Go and Non-Attachment |
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The very act of letting go of anything implies a certain
level of detachment from the thing being released. But
this detachment often is not easy. Sometimes it takes
enormous will, intention, and/or struggle to release
whatever needs releasing.
The Buddhists teach that attachment to anything is the
cause of suffering. And therefore if we wish to find
happiness, we must develop the capacity of non-
attachment. [To learn more about the Buddhist
concept of non-attachment, click on the link at the
bottom of this article.]
Each of us grapples with the issue of attachment in
one or more ways. For some, the attachment is to
material possessions or to certain people or
relationships or to thoughts, ideas, or beliefs or to
places or to behaviors or to our physical bodies or to
life itself.
Many people mistake "letting go" or "non-attachment"
for not caring. This is not the case. Caring,
compassion, love, appreciation, enjoyment - all are
possible within the context of non-attachment. What
non-attachment does away with, however, is the
sense of grasping onto, or clinging to, anything.
As in the third theme quote, above, non-attachment is
not about forgoing joy, nor is it about clinging to the
sources of joy, but rather it is about "kissing the joy as
it flies".
Some useful distictions about letting go and non-
attachment can be found on the Web site www.kensavage.com, in the article
titled, "The Hardest Part of Holding On is Letting Go." A
few of these are listed below. Visit the Web site to
read them all.
- To "let go" is not to care for, but to care about.
- To "let go" is not to fix, but to be supportive.
- To "let go" is not to judge, but to allow another to
be a human being.
- To "let go" is not to be in the middle arranging the
outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own
destinies.
- To "let go" is not to deny, but to accept.
- To "let go" is not to regret the past, but to grow and
live for the future.
- To "let go" means not to worry about the future, but
to look forward to what might happen.
- To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another,
it's to make the most of myself.
- To "let go" is not to cut myself off, it's the realization
that I can't control another.
- To "let go" is to fear less, and love more.
How would YOU define or describe "letting go" or "non-
attachment"?
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| Letting Go Experiment: Two Years Later |
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Excerpted from blog entry dated June 30, 2008:
In June of 2006, I began my Letting Go Experiment -
a personal project intended to last for one year. I was
curious to see how my life might change if I released
365 "things" from my life - one per day for a year.
Mostly, I released material things - household items,
clothing, books, magazines, tapes and CD's, office
supplies, unopened food packages. But here and
there, I also released non-material items: habits,
thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and the like. At the end of
the first 365 days, I reported on what I had done.
Then, I decided to extend the experiment. I
continued to log everything I released from my life for
another four months and again published the results
in my blog, Letting Go Experiment: Month 16.
What have I learned from this experiment?
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| Book Pick: Eat, Pray, Love |
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Elizabeth Gilbert's masterful memoir, Eat, Pray,
Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy,
India, and Indonesia, is a story of letting go. In
this memoir Gilbert exquisitely details her very
personal experience of letting go of the pain and upset
surrounding the ending of two close relationships
(one being a marriage) as well as letting go of her
home and a whole lifestyle and ways of thinking and
being.
Her yearlong sojourn to three countries - Italy, India,
and Indonesia (Bali) - was not only a year of healing,
but also a deliberate search for happiness and
meaning.
At one point, she writes, "The search for contentment
is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-
benefitting act, but also a generous gift to the world.
Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the
way. You cease to be an obstacle, not only to
yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to
serve and enjoy other people."
This is a book to savor, to read slowly and thoughtfully.
Having recently finished it for the first time, I have
already begun to read it again. Once this book has
your attention, I am betting that you will do likewise.
Enjoy!
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| Just for Fun: Puppetji on Attachment & Non-Attachment |
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Lest we become too attached to non-attachment, let
us enjoy what Sri Puppetji has to say on the subject of
attachment and non-attachment. Click below to view
the short (two and a half minute) video on
YouTube.com.
For more enjoyment, with some kernels of wisdom
thrown in, you may also want to visit the blog, The Truth
According to Puppetji.
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| About Our Monthly E-Newsletter |
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LifeWork Letter is a complimentary monthly
e-Newsletter from Connie Komack and LifeWork
Enterprises, with tips, quotes, and short articles
designed to enrich, empower, and forward the
growth of your life, career, or business.
Feel free to share this newsletter with others.
It is easy to do by clicking on the forward
email link at the bottom of this newsletter.
As always, I invite you to visit my blog site
and to read the articles on transition, change, and re-
designing your life that are posted there.
Thank you for reading my newsletter and/or blog
articles. Your readership is most appreciated and
valued. I hear from many of you each month, and I
always enjoy and benefit from your feedback. So
please keep it coming.
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I believe that true happiness and fulfillment comes to
us when we know who we are, when we are
comfortable and confident living in our own skin,
when we know what we want from Life, and when
we focus our best efforts on going for our dream -
whatever that may be. Whether you are an individual
or a business, I support you in this quest.
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