You Can’t Hold the Wind

And there’s a lot of power in a whirlwind! It’s been one of those types of month’s for our world. There’s so much uncertainty and so much confusion.  Where is the force coming from and what will happen next?  Has your life felt like this as well? So many things on your plate and everything is moving, shaping, and transforming fast? It can feel overwhelming or pretty darn scary. And in these moments I try to remember….

You can’t hold on to the wind.

The key is to harness its power OR get out of the way! Which do you do?

This past year has been a “let’s crack you open” kind of year. So much of what I have held to I have found is not really mine to hold. Relationships, image, time.  And in realizing this it has highlighted the truth that love is really the most important.  When I remember that we are made from love and that it is within us, what I allow myself to share, give, and offer, becomes a little less hard and a little less scary.  Because we are the ones who choose to close ourselves off or to choose to open our grasp and our hearts.

It’s interesting, because as soon as you do, you actually have more opportunities as you are not fixated on that one you cling to. And in this, you find faith and hope, and love. There can be so much more of all of these.

I think I have always been pretty good at giving. And I believe that I have always been pretty grateful for what I do receive. I think that comes from being on my own young. BUT there’s been a restless and hidden quiet part of me that is anxious. As long as I can remember, I have always been a little bit fearful. Okay, okay, pretty fearful of being left. It happened with my Mom, my Dad, and my husband, and what was family. I made it my role to help people stay. But I see now, that that can be a desperate grasp. I thought it was of love and devotion, and it was partially, but for me, that tight grip was also out of a fear of not being loved. So I held on tight to steady me.

My late husband’s nickname in baseball was Steady Teddy. He was steady in pitching, but not not so much in life.

The truth is, that ending/leaving/passing happens to all of us at some point. Well, it actually happens a lot. I think I have had a little bit harder of a time with it because my childhood wasn’t stable or predictable. Or maybe it’s because I lost folks so young. Or probably it’s both, but to feel secure with others and in life, I made sure I was consistent. I didn’t know how to feel steady. And I only felt I was steady when I was holding on to another. I was trying to hold on to wind. And when they would pass through my fingers, like wind, I ached. I do love that deep devotion about me, and I also see the desperation hidden under the surface as well.

If you love me then I am okay.

Do you ever feel this way?
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I see now that I can’t hold on to anything or anyone other than me. And I don’t think I really want to any more. I want others to have their freedom. And I want those who want to play, to play.

But as I step into broader more open places like teaching and speaking and hopefully soon, into a relationship again, I still have those moments when it feels a little scary to be doing this, to be doing me. I find it fascinating that a lot of my life has been striving on my own and even so my pace hasn’t felt as solid as I would think it would with 60 years behind me. I am still sometimes little Heather at 3.

Do you feel steady? Or do you feel that the wind around you moves and that it shifts you? Do you feel that there is no real permanence other than the love you cultivate in your heart? And that this is both fragile and powerful at the same time. Maybe that is my lesson, and my journey? That love is my anchor. Love is my rock. Love is my foundation and since that is a living, breathing, ever expanding energy, that there really is nothing to hold to or even to be, but it is all here for us to experience.

And maybe that feeling that “What is this moment” is a deeper awareness that everything really is up to me. Up to you.  Even this truth. Even if I decide right now to feel solid and secure. And this makes me chuckle, because right now, I want to ask you, if you understand.

So instead I will choose, that in this moment, this is the truth of me.

What if our truth is we won’t close off to being, feeling, sharing, and yes, receiving love?

What is your truth, dear one? Is there anything you need as we walk these paths and release these winds alongside one another?  

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All my love to you!

Heather Browne PsyD, LMFT

Dr. Heather Browne PsyD, LMFT helps people recognize the power of communication.  It is one of our most important skills that we have, and yet we don’t consider our understanding, approach, belief, and therefore, miss our possibilities.  Living with a paranoid schizophrenic mother gave Dr. Heather a unique and powerful awareness that no one has the same reality, though we believe we do.  Utilizing this revolutionary awareness has allowed her to transform communication within self and within all other types of relationship.  This is the hidden key to acceptance.  And this is her mission to share.

As a relationship expert, Dr. Heather Browne has worked with thousands of individuals and couples in psychotherapy.  She is a TedX Speaker and Keynote Speaker. Her couple’s communication book will be out 1/24. She is published in hundreds of journals, has an active YouTube channel, has been featured on ABC-7 news, was the relationship expert on KDOC Daybreak OC, and is published in Inc., Toronto Sun, Thriving Family Magazine,  Light + Life, BRAINZ, Scary Mommy, and Psychology Today.  She is a regular guest blogger for both Links for Shrinks and for Marriage Friendly Therapists. She offers a weekly newsletter packed with tips and techniques to improve relationships and has monthly workshops! Simply go to her website!
https://www.drheatherbrowne.com/