Letting Go of a Powerful Story Is a Big Deal
It can be really hard to step into the unknown with a new story
A Creative Giant wrote me a celebratory email this morning. After years of struggling on his own with a book he was writing — and many months of getting harassed encouraged on Monthly Momentum Calls — he finally shipped his rough manuscript to an editor.
He wrote:
It seems so silly, because I'm just sending something to someone, but it was kind of a big milestone to hit that Send button.
He didn't just send something to someone; he let go of a story that he'd assigned a lot of weight and power to, and he's in the process of writing a new one. Stories drive us so much that letting go of one provides a huge emotional and psychic release.
And it can be really hard to step into the unknown with a new story. This Creative Giant will be stepping into the unknown of having a real book entering the world soon. The fears of building the wrong thing will come up, as will all of the other fears about whether the book is good enough. It's a natural part of the journey, and knowing that still won't keep it from affecting him.
His email got me thinking about all of the other ways in which letting go is so much more than the physical actions we do to let go.
Going through your deceased parents' stuff to decide what matters and what needs to go is so much more than the physical act of sorting through papers, pictures, and baby blankets.
Burying a loved one is so much more than digging a hole and putting a casket in it.
Closing the doors to your business is so much more than hanging a sign.
Finalizing a divorce is so much more than meeting with the lawyer, signing on the dotted line, and putting the envelope in the mail.
Closing the trunk of your daughter's college-bound car is so much more than the mere act of closing the trunk.
Sitting down the teammate you're about to fire or lay off is so much more than inviting him or her to sit down in your office.
But in every case, it's the action that has to happen to let go of the story and to start writing a new one. Our lives are composed of more than mere actions, AND a rich life requires the grit to take those hard actions.
What action do you need to take to write a new story today?