There is a blogging project that’s happening right now called Reverb10. Through daily prompts participants are encouraged to reflect on the past year and share their stories. There are over 3,000 people writing as a part of this project at last check in and the numbers keep growing. The posts are being shared through Twitter and Delicious. I encourage you to poke around, read a little and maybe even join in yourself.
Since I joined the project a little late I’ve picking the prompts that speak most immediately to me. Earlier this week I posted a response to prompt #1 and #3. Today I want to share with you my response to #5 – Let Go. It’s hard thing for most of us to do, but amazingly freeing when you are able.
This year it wasn’t so much something that I let go of, but that I learned how to let go. More specifically I learned to let go of my need for perfection, my need to know what comes next, my need to know exactly how it will all turn out. I learned these needs young and for a long time they kept me grounded and sane. More recently they were just holding me back.
Now for those of you with your jaws on the floor I assure you it’s not a life of complete abandon that I live now. I am sill a perfectionist, still a control freak, and still a planner, but I have a new perspective that’s allowed me to sit with the uncertainty and allowed me to leap before I knew how deep the water was. And let me tell you amazing things have happened.
Some days it’s still hard; I want to plan everything out and think through worst-case scenarios so that I’m prepared. But then I remind myself how well things have worked out so far and I put my focus back on the present, not the hypothetical, doom and gloom future, and work on what I have control over right now. Like finishing a blog post, finding a venue for a seminar, or just answering my emails. I remind myself that right now it doesn’t matter what I’m going to write next week, I haven’t written today’s yet. I remind myself that if I don’t fill enough spots in the seminar I can always cancel it, if no one is signed up how will they know? I remind myself that if I answer all my emails that’s a great accomplishment for the day and I’ll feel a little clearer and more organized when I’m done.
I actually believe I’m more productive because of the letting go. I look at my calendar each day and just do what’s on it. If I find my mind wandering to other “must do tasks” I make sure they’re on the calendar for another day and then forget about them. If I have time in the day left over I get ahead. I am reasonable with myself and know that I am doing all I need to, which is more than many people. I have learned to give myself a break.
I challenge you to look at your process, how you tackle your days and projects. Do you unwittingly hold yourself back? Is there something you can let go of that would set you free?
I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve@lightboxsf.com
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1 comment:
lots of wonderful talent!!!!!!!!!!!!
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