The Power of Letting Go

While visiting my son on Maui in December, on my birthday, I went snorkeling with friends at a place nicknamed Turtle Town. Lots of sea turtles hang out there, mostly on the coral about 10 feet below the surface. After swimming out about 50 yards, we saw quite a few turtles of varying sizes resting beneath us. Then one huge old turtle rose up to the surface right in front of us and hung out with the five of us for several spellbinding minutes. What a gift, being in the presence of such a magnificent creature.

After leaving the beach, I started picking up texts and voicemails from friends and neighbors back home: the Lilac Fire had sprung up suddenly near my home. Whipped by Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions, it was raging out of control and my neighborhood’s evacuation was expected.

That gave me pause: what I would ask my neighbors to take out of my home if necessary? The top priority was my cat, Claire, but I thought of all the other things: pictures, paintings, books, mementos, clothing, legal papers and more. That was all just stuff that could be replaced or let go.

It was very freeing to come to that realization. Americans tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. Do we own it or does it own us? I feel certain that the practices of T’ai Chi Chih and especially Seijaku have greatly contributed to coming to this point of letting go and being at peace with whatever happened.

I called my neighbor to ask if she would take Claire. And after making peace with letting go, additional fire crews kept the fire from spreading to my neighborhood. When I returned home, I was grateful to have a home to come back to. Many were not so fortunate. Let’s all be grateful for the gift of life, and for our life enhancing practices of TCC and its advanced form, Seijaku.