Discussing "Letting Go"

Following up on my recent posting, "Levels of Letting Go"



What exactly are you suggesting letting go of at "Level Four"?

Everything.


Everything?

That's right.


So I'd quit my job and wander naked through the streets?

I didn't say to do anything differently. Just let go.


How can I let go while also participating?

If you drop a grudge, does anything materially change?


No. Just my perspective.

Bingo.

You can drop tons of exhausting weight without anything materially changing. Far, far more than you'd imagine.

Like I said, Atlas was wrong. He could have let go of the world at any time and it would have been fine. You have no idea how much you're holding up, because you're used to it. But it was always unnecessary. You can drop the unnecessary. When you do, you'll discover that it was the weight of the entire universe.


You wrote that we're all keeping Neptune going in our heads. I don't feel like I'm devoting much energy to that.

Not much, but you're devoting some. And Neptune's just one thing in a vast internal realm. Let it all go in one big drop, and that's Level Four. Nothing changes. You've just dropped an exhausting, unnecessary process.


I don't feel like I'm putting myself through an exhausting process.

Are you exhausted?


Yes.

I rest my case.


But I'm exhausted because my mom's in the hospital and my kid sprained her ankle and my boss underpays me and our president is an authoritarian racist. How could I not be exhausted?

Try it and see. Problems are mandatory, but burden is optional.

Atlas was silly. The world never needed him to hold it up. Letting go would have freed up his energy to really help!

We are all like Atlas, subconsciously obliged to pretend to bear all the weight. You won't fully understand until you opt out—of the pretending (not the engaging!). It all clears up once you finally let go.


How do I go about it?

This entire Slog is pretty much devoted to coaxing reframes. Meditation loosens up the gears.

Practice shifting perspective, aka reframing. Work on levels 1, 2, and 3. Forgive willy-nilly—even people you're not mad at. Even people you don't know.

Then, once you get a feel for it, bear in mind that the whole edifice can drop. Remember the foolishness of Atlas. Remember that burden is needless. Remember that when you cut everything out from underneath you that you'll float, not fall.