Letting go

Transition

Loslaten betekent dat er verandering is. De afgelopen weken heb ik het gevoel in een enorme positieve spiraal van verandering te zitten. Ik ben eindelijk verhuisd naar mijn nieuwe studio, er is veel opgeruimd en met elke doos die ik uitpak voel ik mezelf landen. Het zijn weken van ’transitie’ voor mij. De verandering van zomer naar herfst. De verandering van volle ‘verbouw-modus’ naar meer rust vinden. Onwennig.. maar ook fijn!  Tijd om vooruit te blikken op wat ik deze herfst los wil laten.

Autumn is the time to let go

Traditionally, autumn is a magical time of year when you can let go of hard work a little more. There is room for gratitude (for harvests), connection with friends and family and space for yourself. Because, after a long, busy summer, sometimes you find that you have changed, or that some things no longer suit you. You grow and blossom every year and change is part of life. And with that very change comes letting go. 

In de herfst onstaat er meer tijd voor reflectie en rust. Ik voel het altijd heel sterk. Mijn lichaam ontspant zich meer, ik slaap langer en ondanks de ’topdrukte’ in de webshop (of misschien voor jou: werk, nieuw project, opleiding, etc) merk ik toch dat er ruimte ontstaat voor mezelf. Cosiness en selfcare kloppen vol overgave aan de deur!

And then it turns out I have some 'letting go' to do. An inner clearing of sorts. This year, it looks like I'm going to put the remodelling behind me (and no, we're far from finished, but the big things that kept causing my life to be messed up ;-)), I want to unpack all the moving boxes this autumn and that's always a good time to get rid of anything that no longer fits. But there's more...

With confidence

Letting go is sometimes exciting. Indeed, I am very bad at it (partly made possible by PTSD ;-)). It may sound ridiculous, but I always think of the trees then. No doubt they drop their leaves, they know That things will pick up in spring. They trust their natural cycle, their own strength. And that is exactly what I try to embrace when I let go of the small, nuanced, (often painful) things. Guilt, shame, feeling that I should do better, that I am not good enough or all sorts of undermining thoughts. But, who are you anymore without that part of your story? Who am I without the eternal 'you're a selfish bitch' echo in my head? 

It is exciting. But each time I let go a bit. I trust my own strength, just like the trees. Letting go is a process. Autumn is the perfect time to give that process an extra push. To give it a little more space. By consciously, trustingly letting go each time, I notice over the years that I am more and more myself. I don't just let myself go crazy anymore, draw my own path and honestly?

Letting go in autumn is wonderful. Easy? No. But definitely worth the effort. I go for being authentically myself, and that succeeds a little more every autumn! 

Letting go gives room for news

Have you ever noticed that? Letting go makes room for new things. New ideas, activities, projects and, of course, inspiration for new illustrations! I am curious to see what autumn brings me, but in the meantime there is already a lot of new stuff (thanks to the positive-ready-with-big-building-spiral), how about this: