Creating Space by Jann Alexander © 2015
When you let go, you create space for something else to move in to your life. —Holiday Mathis
Yes, I read my horoscope. Not every day, but on the occasional day that I do, some sage piece of insight is waiting there for me. Perhaps that’s the nature of being Aquarian; I expect that little tidbit of goodness to be there.
I learned to let go decades ago when my life had more trauma and drama in it, and now that things are much more chill, I still I practice it often. It’s important to keep the practice up; any psychology expert will tell you that’s how you build a habit.
I’m no psychology expert, but having been part of enough therapy sessions over the years to be awarded an honorary degree, I’ll make this observation: It’s just as easy to build a good habit as it is to build a bad one. And that’s where letting go comes in.
Letting go, as Holiday Mathis wisely reminded me the day I read my horoscope, creates space for something else to move in to your life. It’s bound to be something more positive than what you let go of, since the impetus for letting go is to release the demons.
Letting go creates space for something else to move in to your life.
And look at all the options you’ll have. Each day is a day some new creative pursuit can move you. Couldn’t you sketch a self-portrait instead of reaching for your iPhone, paint the view from your studio window, photograph the coming spring, make a video from all of your rejected footage, write a short story, redesign your blog, finish your one-woman play or put the final scenes into your novel?
This is where creating space gets fun. As I wrote in Making Space for What Counts, there are plenty of things to fill your newfound space:
your writing
your art
your music
your creative passion of choice
your priorities
your relationships
and so on . . . what’s yours?
“Let go to make space.” That’s my mantra to remind myself to let go — and thus I can set my intentions.
I practice making space by deciding to Create First, React Later as a way of setting my intentions for just one day at a time. I came up with this strategy shortly after New Year’s had rolled around and everyone was making resolutions they wouldn’t keep. I dubbed it a resolution a day in lieu of a year’s worth, and it’s worked well. My rationale? You can do anything for just one day. And it could even become a habit.
You can do anything for just one day. And it could even become a habit.
Which brings us back to habits again. Letting go encourages good habits, rather than the bad kind, because it creates space for so much creative abundance and goodness to move in. As creatures who run faster on the hamster wheel when given rewards, we can encourage our own creative growth by that one act: Let go to make space. And reap the bonus of the positive feedback loop.
It’s in the making of space that the real magic can materialize. I believe in abundance, in possibilities, and most of all, in magic, and I want to make room for it to happen.
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