“She Let Go”
Attributed to Safir Rose and Ernest Holmes
I’m taking an online class, and the instructors start each session with a poem. I posted this one entitled She Let Go on my Facebook page and was amazed at the responses I received, almost all from women.
The responses indicated that this poem really struck a chord.
It made me think about why this poem would strike such a chord — and especially with women.
First, I looked at what “she” let go of:
Fear
Judgments
Others’ opinions
Indecision
‘right’ reasons
Memories that held her back
Anxiety
Planning
And all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
I’m sure men need to let go of all these things too, but I think women, (at least me) can get paralyzed by the expectations that there’s a right way to be a woman, a spouse, a mother, a worker; a right way to live our lives. And there is never any shortage of opinions about how we’re doing it wrong.
I also liked all the things ‘she’ didn’t do:
Ask anyone for advice.
Read a book on how to let go.
Search the scriptures.
Promise to let go.
Journal about it.
Write the projected date in her day-timer.
Make a public announcement and put an ad in the paper.
Check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
Analyze whether she should let go.
Call her friends to discuss the matter.
Do a five-step spiritual mind treatment.
Call the prayer line.
Utter one word.
Women are socialized from a young age not to trust themselves, that not only do their opinions not matter, they also are often wrong. So, we consult sources outside ourselves instead of trusting that we’re enough.
And what happened when she let go?
No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.
There was no effort.
There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…
She didn’t need an audience; she didn’t need fanfare; the world carried on; it wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad. She let it all be. May we all realize we’re enough and let go of anything that tells us we’re not.