Non-Attachment

According to today's post on yogamint.com, nature is always reminding us that everything has its season.  Ancient teachings show us that this continuing ebb and flow of life is an opportunity to practice non-attachment, an issue which I have a lot of trouble with, more so when I'm reminded of a loss.  The article goes on to say that instead of saying no to whatever feelings we have, we need to experience the full cycle of feelings which will send us on a journey of growth.  The writer continues, "Only when you give up resistance to what is happening can you be truly unattached from it. Let the tears fly and see how soon tears of joy follow. Cultivate your inner yogi by living honestly with your feelings. You'll experience both the dualistic nature of life and the means to step out of it."

I've gotten "hit over the head" by several of my favorite blogs lately on the issue of non-attachment.  One of the best statements on non-attachment that I've read lately was posted on The Rambling Taoist when the writer says, "Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu spend a lot of time writing about the danger of attachments. When we become attached to people, ideas, strategies and expectations, we can easily become disillusioned when life doesn't go the way we want it to or thought it would. When we are able to live free of attachments, then we meet each moment as it unfolds before us."  I'm trying to realize that especially in the area of family and personal relationships, I am still very attached to my expectations, my ideas of what my life ought to be like, and my life is so far out of the bell curve, and so many events have conspired through the years to change my life, that I need to let go of the attachments I have to what might have been, what I see in others and their more traditional lives, and instead, meet each moment as it unfolds before me. 

Lots of things are working very well for me, and even on days where my underlying melancholy surfaces and becomes more prominent, I need to stop resisting my feelings, but instead feel them fully and use them in positive ways.  Yesterday, for example, when I just didn't feel very perky and so my melancholy levels rose, I honored my feelings by staying home and immersing myself in my quilting, which served to make me feel much better and today I was therefore able to hand off those three quilts to Vashon Youth and Family Services.

The lesson of non-attachment is not something which is learned once and kept then for life.  Because of our basic natures as humans, this is a lesson which needs to be repeated over and over again, and I am trying to remember that, especially since I am all very new to the concept.  I shall now meet the moments of the remainder of this day without any attachment to any particular results, but just see what evolves as I begin working on the next set of three quilts for VYFS.  Namaste!