I was listening to Pearl Jam this morning, a song called Leash, when a few lyrics jumped out at me:
"will myself to find a home, a home within myself
we will find a way, we will find our place
drop the leash, drop the leash..."
It can feel rough at first to let go of what the world tells us we should own, do and be. We got some comfort being on that leash because decisions were made for us. But it's a leash. It reigned in our natural movements. We do best when untethered.
We drop the leash by starting to question the value of the things in our environment. By asking, "Do I like this or can I let it go?", our awareness opens to the certain and knowing voice in ourselves. We may be surprised to find out that our voice is stronger and more powerful than we knew.
This afternoon I was talking with a guy who had created a lot of art but was afraid to show it to anybody. He felt ashamed when thinking of taking his creations beyond the walls of his home. He thought he would be ridiculed.
I said he sounded like a lot of people who were taught to reduce themselves, to be small and fit in. It happened because parents and schools got scared of who they were when they were kids and weren't sure what to do with their mighty individuality.
I asked him how it felt to create his art. He said, "More alive than anything I've ever felt." I asked him how he felt about showing his art. He said, "I shudder. I feel like I've done something wrong." I asked him how that felt in his body. He said, "I feel like my heart constricts. It hurts me."
I said that he was made to create his art. Otherwise he wouldn't have made the things he did. The things he created are as natural and important as mountains. The world benefits and thrives when he's in full bloom, and it loses something when he disappears. None of us benefit when we diminish under the weight of our clutter. I said the clutter in his life was the beliefs he had about his natural expression.
He was surprised. He said he'd never thought of it that way. He said he was open to the possibilities of where this kind of thinking could take him.