Tyler, you express this so well: “We must let go to move forward”. Both a physical and metaphysical principle. Many religious teachings emphasize this concept, such as Philippians 3:13-14, which encourages "forgetting what is behind and toward what is ahead". I understand from Buddhism that one of the core concepts of ‘letting go’ is called “Non-Attachment” (Anupadana): where letting go means engaging with the world fully without being enslaved by a need for specific outcomes. It is often described as "non-addiction"—enjoying a person or object while knowing that separation is eventually inevitable.
I watched a YouTube video recently where the creator used ten minutes of my life to explore how little they achieved in the last year. Before you judge me… it was not a waste of my time. For the quote I focused on from the post ( which I will paraphrase for brevity) was worthy of much more time to consider; “modern life is like an app that won’t finishing loading; eventually you time-out and move on.”
I appreciate the “matter-of-factness” approach here. Without emotion, we just need to move on. Yes, the essence of life is to keep moving, regardless of the lack of being entertained or the ‘size of the rock we are pushing up a hill’. But it is more than just moving forward. It’s about what we choose to do with the time we have and people around us. And for the most part, we all have a choice.
I’m known by friends and family in the past few years for posting photos on Facebook of wildflowers or eclectic views from my mobile while my partner and I take our daily walks. The limits of my partner’s endurance since their stroke requires rest-stops. This allows me time to look, approach, and photograph. I add info about the plant to add context. What’s interesting is how many times others express surprise at seeing these photos, saying “I walk there all the time and have never seen that.” Why do I bring this up? Because like any path we take to hike together, it is not about the direction or destination. It’s about our experience in the journey. And it’s not just about seeing the opportunity. Many of the flowers are so small, you have to seek them out and use magnification to appreciate their beauty. If I do not or cannot take time to be present and look beyond what is just adjacent to my path, then I too, would miss many beautiful things.
I believe no path is right or wrong. It is just the one you are on today. But we should stray a little from the norm ( or let go of it) in order to keep moving forward to seek and find our next best parts of life.
"Without emotion, we just need to move on." Touchè my friend. And what you said about our paths is so precisely yes. We always seem to forget, we can change things, every passing minute, every single day. Thank you for noticing.
Once again your post feels specifically written for me. I was just thinking yesterday about how I have to learn to let go. Be it physical things, ideas, or relationships. I have to learn to perhaps be more forgiving to myself and just accept that things are the way they are. Stop looking back and figure out why things are the way they are. I’ll never be happy if I keep waiting on a satisfactory answer that I’m sure will never come. Now I have to hope that all the people living in my head (especially the obsessive) can all get on the same page.
Psst...it was! :) First step is Always forgiving ourselves, Always this. Our eyes point forward for a very specific reason, yet we're always hurting our neck looking back over our shoulders. You're magic. Happy Happy New Year.
I read this post this morning and have been thinking about it on and off all day. I will be trying your 12 card spread on new year's. I love the idea of starting the new year by imagining how each month might go and how I might grow. Thank you for sharing your tradition with us!
This prompted me to start an “unfinished” shelf on my Goodreads. Because I did read those books some part of the way and that deserves to be captured. Not finishing them was just as much a part of my life as finishing them would have been.
I love the acceptance that there is a time and place for things to occur and we shouldn’t force them into the timetables we set just because we think it should be so.
YES!! I don’t understand why Goodreads doesn’t have a dnf option. I can count on one hand the books I didn’t finish but between this post and the bad ones I read this year, I really would like that option. I tried to do all of the challenges this year (I don’t think I’ll get them all 😩) and it has given me some stinkers. When something that is supposed to be done for enjoyment starts to feel like homework, I need to say it’s ok to quit it.
What a brilliant idea! I think often that the choices we make, the things we decide NOT to do, have just as much value, if not more, than the things we do. We're shaped by what we choose.
Happy turning of the year to you and yours, Lord Gregson.
Letting go of notions of permanency is extremely liberating. My life started to get easier when I realised that some people and things are only meant to be in your life for a short time, and I wasn’t “losing” anything when our paths diverged.
I hope 2026 is a wonderful year for you, and for all in this community.
Happy Back to you and yours! I am so glad you've discovered the unbelievable cleansing magic of impermanence. So many see it as a curse, but I know no higher blessing.
I love this so much. I always feel a mixture of emotions as I cross into a new year. I always hope for pure joy, but ultimately I always end up feeling a tinge of melancholy. There's so much hype around the holiday, so much pressure to perform and start fresh and make all these grand resolutions. But I find that suffocating. Instead I like to do a lot of reflection on my life and decide what things I want to release and what things I want to seek. I find more comfort in words and intentions rather than a specific list of goals. I always just want to carry myself with a certain energy in a new year. Then I will be guided where I need to go. I love that idea of letting things be unfinished or moving on when it feels right. Such an important reminder.
Tyler, you express this so well: “We must let go to move forward”. Both a physical and metaphysical principle. Many religious teachings emphasize this concept, such as Philippians 3:13-14, which encourages "forgetting what is behind and toward what is ahead". I understand from Buddhism that one of the core concepts of ‘letting go’ is called “Non-Attachment” (Anupadana): where letting go means engaging with the world fully without being enslaved by a need for specific outcomes. It is often described as "non-addiction"—enjoying a person or object while knowing that separation is eventually inevitable.
I watched a YouTube video recently where the creator used ten minutes of my life to explore how little they achieved in the last year. Before you judge me… it was not a waste of my time. For the quote I focused on from the post ( which I will paraphrase for brevity) was worthy of much more time to consider; “modern life is like an app that won’t finishing loading; eventually you time-out and move on.”
I appreciate the “matter-of-factness” approach here. Without emotion, we just need to move on. Yes, the essence of life is to keep moving, regardless of the lack of being entertained or the ‘size of the rock we are pushing up a hill’. But it is more than just moving forward. It’s about what we choose to do with the time we have and people around us. And for the most part, we all have a choice.
I’m known by friends and family in the past few years for posting photos on Facebook of wildflowers or eclectic views from my mobile while my partner and I take our daily walks. The limits of my partner’s endurance since their stroke requires rest-stops. This allows me time to look, approach, and photograph. I add info about the plant to add context. What’s interesting is how many times others express surprise at seeing these photos, saying “I walk there all the time and have never seen that.” Why do I bring this up? Because like any path we take to hike together, it is not about the direction or destination. It’s about our experience in the journey. And it’s not just about seeing the opportunity. Many of the flowers are so small, you have to seek them out and use magnification to appreciate their beauty. If I do not or cannot take time to be present and look beyond what is just adjacent to my path, then I too, would miss many beautiful things.
I believe no path is right or wrong. It is just the one you are on today. But we should stray a little from the norm ( or let go of it) in order to keep moving forward to seek and find our next best parts of life.
One final Sage Mic Drop for the calendar year. I await Lunar New Year’s treat (pretty sure Year of the Horse kicks in on February 17)
"Without emotion, we just need to move on." Touchè my friend. And what you said about our paths is so precisely yes. We always seem to forget, we can change things, every passing minute, every single day. Thank you for noticing.
Once again your post feels specifically written for me. I was just thinking yesterday about how I have to learn to let go. Be it physical things, ideas, or relationships. I have to learn to perhaps be more forgiving to myself and just accept that things are the way they are. Stop looking back and figure out why things are the way they are. I’ll never be happy if I keep waiting on a satisfactory answer that I’m sure will never come. Now I have to hope that all the people living in my head (especially the obsessive) can all get on the same page.
Happy New Year to you all 🎆🎊
Psst...it was! :) First step is Always forgiving ourselves, Always this. Our eyes point forward for a very specific reason, yet we're always hurting our neck looking back over our shoulders. You're magic. Happy Happy New Year.
I read this post this morning and have been thinking about it on and off all day. I will be trying your 12 card spread on new year's. I love the idea of starting the new year by imagining how each month might go and how I might grow. Thank you for sharing your tradition with us!
You're so very welcome! I'd LOVE to see how your card spread goes!
This prompted me to start an “unfinished” shelf on my Goodreads. Because I did read those books some part of the way and that deserves to be captured. Not finishing them was just as much a part of my life as finishing them would have been.
I love the acceptance that there is a time and place for things to occur and we shouldn’t force them into the timetables we set just because we think it should be so.
YES!! I don’t understand why Goodreads doesn’t have a dnf option. I can count on one hand the books I didn’t finish but between this post and the bad ones I read this year, I really would like that option. I tried to do all of the challenges this year (I don’t think I’ll get them all 😩) and it has given me some stinkers. When something that is supposed to be done for enjoyment starts to feel like homework, I need to say it’s ok to quit it.
What a brilliant idea! I think often that the choices we make, the things we decide NOT to do, have just as much value, if not more, than the things we do. We're shaped by what we choose.
Happy turning of the year to you and yours, Lord Gregson.
Letting go of notions of permanency is extremely liberating. My life started to get easier when I realised that some people and things are only meant to be in your life for a short time, and I wasn’t “losing” anything when our paths diverged.
I hope 2026 is a wonderful year for you, and for all in this community.
Happy Back to you and yours! I am so glad you've discovered the unbelievable cleansing magic of impermanence. So many see it as a curse, but I know no higher blessing.
Ah. Surrender. Something I have familiarized myself to. It's part of the mindfulness. Part of being/living in the Now.
You brought to mind Natasha Bedingfield's song 'Unwritten' something that lifted me up during my depression.
"I am unwritten/Can't read my mind/I'm undefined/I'm just beginning/The pen's in my hand/Ending unplanned ...
Drench yourself in words unspoken/Live your life with arms wide open/Today is where your book begins/The rest is still unwritten"
I surrender to the copesetic [my word for the new year] wonder that enters my life. I will do my best.
I might have a try the tarot spread ... I have the same cards and love not only the artwork, but the interpretations.
... and so, I enter the new year with girlie pink glitter finger nails because, why not?
Girlie Pink Glitter Nails ALWAYS. Fully support this. Always.
I love this so much. I always feel a mixture of emotions as I cross into a new year. I always hope for pure joy, but ultimately I always end up feeling a tinge of melancholy. There's so much hype around the holiday, so much pressure to perform and start fresh and make all these grand resolutions. But I find that suffocating. Instead I like to do a lot of reflection on my life and decide what things I want to release and what things I want to seek. I find more comfort in words and intentions rather than a specific list of goals. I always just want to carry myself with a certain energy in a new year. Then I will be guided where I need to go. I love that idea of letting things be unfinished or moving on when it feels right. Such an important reminder.
You're so loved here, truly. I feel the melancholy more and more each year, and wonder often what that means.
Thank you!