“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
~ Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
Twice in the last year, two of my girlfriends have been diagnosed with cancer. While the diagnosis alone is often enough to make most people stop suspended in their tracks and bow to a death sentence, both my girls defied the norm. Each, spiritually grounded and metaphysically conscious women, made the choice to see the illness as an invitation to change. I too, faced with my own major surgery and more tragedies than I care to remember, have found that both death and illness have a way of helping us to sort out the important from the trivial. These ordeals force us to ask discriminating questions.
Am I happy? Does my life feel purposeful, balanced, aligned with my true calling? Are my relationships equitable? Do they drain or replenish my energy? Do I attend to my own self-care as passionately as I attend to other’s needs? Are there areas in my life where there is debilitating anger? Resentment? Indifference? Pessimism? What am I holding on to that I haven’t been able to let go of?
What’s in your bag?
Generally speaking, we don’t contemplate these questions often enough. Nor do we pause to consider how detrimental is the baggage we hoard until we are faced with crises. Then when the emotional debts of our past begin to hold our bodies ransom in the symbolic form of “dis-ease”, we finally stop and pay attention. It’s in this temporary bondage that we begin to sense just how much the pain we’ve carried around is wreaking havoc on our lives; often keeping at a distance what we most desire – love, joy, peace, fulfillment, connection and a deep knowing that our presence matters.
The biting reality is you can’t keep nursing your antique sorrows and still expect to be at ease in your mind, body and spirit. You want more ease? Throw away the stuff that’s constipating your life. Empty yourself and your lifestyle of all that threatens to kill you. Make room for love to be your easy and steady companion. It alone has the power to heal and transform anything it touches.
My girlfriends and I accepted the inherent challenges of our individual crises and chose to perceive them symbolically. They, as I, understood the pain stories of our past no longer had anything of value to offer. So we began to unpack and throw away trucks full of unpleasant yesterdays. Of all the affirmations we tossed between us, “pack light” became and continues to be one of the mantras with which I center my being. I invite you to do the same.
Your Crossfade Tip(s):
Stop worshiping your baggage. Die to the weight of the past in order to be present to the power of now – where everything desired is not only possible, but probable if you believe. Here, in this moment, is where all the magic lives. Play with it.
A recording artist, author, celebrity lifestyle expert and instigator of personal revolutions for the past 16 years, Neycha’s hip and progressive healing modality known as The Crossfade™ has made her a favorite among celebrities, 9to5ers, artists, rebels and everyday people who seek to remix reality and radically reinvent their lives. Visit her website today for free music and more rebel insights to revolutionize your life! Follow Neycha on Facebook, Twitter @Neycha or Instagram.