The Gift of Goodbye

In order to make room in our lives for the new, we often have to release something we’re attached to — mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. Letting go with grace may be the hardest task most of us will ever master. And it isn’t necessarily people we’ll be called upon to release.

Twice on my evolutionary odyssey I lost jewelry that was precious to me — both times, when I was at a crossroads in my growth and needed to relinquish a way of being that no longer served me. Each time, I was walking along the beach with a male companion who challenged my self-concept in a major way.

In the first instance, I’d placed my driver’s license and some money in a small change purse in my pocket. Just before we stepped onto the beach, not wanting to risk getting sand in my beloved onyx ring, I put my ring in the purse, too. When we reached the car after our stroll, the change purse was gone, and my ring with it. We retraced our steps along the beach, to no avail. An elderly man, observing my distress, asked what was the matter. As I related my tale of loss, he said sagely, “You lose something today, something better comes tomorrow. That’s the way it works!” But I was inconsolable.

A year later: another beach walk, another challenging relationship. I was wearing my favorite pair of rhodonite and onyx earrings. (Onyx was an important gemstone to me then. Interestingly, according to a crystal and gem awareness guide, onyx is said to assist one in mastering detachment…). At the conclusion of our walk, my right earring was missing.

Several years later, I participated in Angeles Arrien’s Four-Fold Way training at the Esalen Institute, on the ruggedly beautiful California coast. Part of our initiation involved making Native American “prayer arrows” and offering them to the Earth in whatever way we chose.

I elected to give my prayer arrow to the sea. Crawling carefully out onto one of Esalen’s magnificent rock formations, I suddenly became aware that I was wearing all of my “replacement jewelry”: the custom earrings I’d had crafted after the above incident, and an onyx and pearl ring I bought to assuage the loss of the old onyx ring. I hesitated, uncertain whether to continue and perhaps lose my new jewelry, too. Yet I felt differently this time. I was conscious in the moment of what was happening, and knew it would be okay.

I completed the release of my prayer arrow and later, when I shared my experience with the group, Angeles said, “This is an important story. The lost parts of ourselves always return when we are willing to attend to what we ignored or were attached to, and integrate it into our being.”

I’m continually amazed at how kindred our lives are. A friend in the midst of his own soul journey shared how he went dancing (another great form of release), first carefully placing in his pocket a treasured beaded bracelet that he considered his “power object.” At the close of the night, the bracelet was gone, and though he combed the dance floor, it did not materialize. He recognized the call to let go, and did so. A few days later, the woman who had made the bracelet resurfaced in his life, though they hadn’t been in touch for years.

We are all cells in the body of God/Goddess/Spirit/Source/Universal Mind. (Add your own favorite term.) Every goodbye is also a hello.

About the Author:

Amara Rose is a “midwife” for our global rebirth. Her services include transformational guidance, talks, e-courses, a digital download CD, and an inspirational monthly newsletter. She is widely published in health, business and new thought magazines, both digital and print. Learn more: http://www.liveyourlight.com