what if we could let it go?

“The moment I let go of it
was the moment I got more than I could handle”

— Alanis Morisette

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i'm pretty sure 90% of most good advice could be summed up by one or both of these two songs : “Thank U” by Alanis Morisette and “Let It Go” by Disney (??? idk… i've actually never watched the movie).

earlier this week, i was cooking some brussels + potatoes for dinner and my husband played something on the guitar that reminded me of Alanis Morisette. so i jumped up and started playing her Spotify profile through the speaker. 

i may or may not have (but definitely did) spent countless hours of my early teens belting out Alanis in the shower. i also may or may not have (but definitely did) enjoy repeating that behavior this week in the car for an insane amount of time with "Thank U" playing on repeat. a deep neurodivergence latch for me is that music (+ sound in general) has its way with me. it's like i don't get to decide when i'm done obsessing over a song or an album. and some of those timelines can last YEARS. i can be super hestitant to listen to new music because inside i'm like — ‘do i have 3 years to get obsessed with only this?’

but back to the kitchen playlist…

as "Thank U" started going through, we kept looking at each other like How 'BOUT that? Alanis KNEW! she knew the Thing(s)! and it made me smile because maybe there was something in baby me — who didn't know she knew — that knew, too and felt the need to sing about it with her.

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a few weeks ago, i was working with a client in a movement session and their whole body was just clenched, and it was creating so much unnecessary pressure, effort + pain for them. and the song “Let it Go” just popped into my head and wouldn't go away for weeks (still there). 

the beautiful thing about LETTING IT GO — is that we don't always have to know WHY it was there, or why it stuck around so long, or what it means. sometimes we do discover those things, and that's great. but sometimes, obsessing over why just keeps us from doing what we actually need to do which is… LET IT GO. we actually can.

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so for this offering, i took the lyrics from these two songs and made them into a lyrical offering below….

—

How 'bout me not blaming you for everything
How 'bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
How 'bout grieving it all one at a time 

Let it go, let it go 
Can't hold it back anymore 
Let it go, let it go 
Turn away and slam the door 

Thank you India 
Thank you terror 
Thank you disillusionment 
Thank you frailty 
Thank you consequence 
Thank you thank you silence

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small 
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all

How 'bout not equating death with stopping

It's time to see what I can do 
To test the limits and break through 
No right, no wrong, no rules for me 
I'm free

How 'bout no longer being masochistic 
How 'bout remembering your divinity
How 'bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out 

Let it go, let it go 
I am one with the wind and sky 
Let it go, let it go
Here I stand and here I stay 
Let the storm rage on

The moment I let go of it 
was the moment I got more than
I could handle 

The moment I jumped off of it 
Was the moment I touched down

Let it go, let it go 
When I rise like the break of dawn 
Let it go, let it go 
That perfect girl is gone 

Here I stand in the light of day
My power flurries through the air into the ground 

Thank you India 
Thank you providence 
Thank you disillusionment 
Thank you nothingness 
Thank you clarity 
Thank you thank you silence

—

may you give thanks. may you let it go.
sing out loud.
amen. 

courage, 
grace

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it is the pillar for having compassion and acceptance of others

and what IS

which unlocks our capacity for things like joy + courage.

so what if we trusted ourselves more?

what if we took the judgement out of it?

what if we learned to be more self-full

to accept that the medicine is you

and opened the heart, your heart, that has the blueprint for your life

your work

and then we got on with this beautiful, terrible thing called Life.

self-acceptance is how we are brave

and, as Glennon Doyle says, The braver I am, the luckier I get.

or in my version : the more i accept myself and relax into who i am, the better my life gets.

may it be so.

courage,
grace