The Art of Unlearning
Shedding a Lifetime
I have a memory from when I was very young where I was holding on to my Siberian Husky’s fur, and using it to hold myself up. I recall him shrugging me off and falling to the ground. This frustrated me because I wanted to get up and move, but my body couldn't do it yet. I remember everything looking big, and feeling so small. A vivid memory where everything feels crisp to this day. A memory of learning to walk.
From the moment we are born, we are learning. We learn how to breathe, how to eat, and how to get the things we need before we can even talk. We learn to love, develop a taste, find friends that match our energies, and find friends that don't. We learn how to drive, how to work, and we learn how to survive in this current world. A world where things move so fast that nature is almost forgotten and becomes something we see buzz by our windows as we drive into work each day.
Within this current world, we may seek a deeper connection and a way to escape this way of life. We may find a way to disconnect from the world and go inward through meditation, or by spending time in nature. We may find a way to reconnect with a deeper form of self and seek a way to return to more authentic ways.
If we reach this authentic self, what if the answers we seek are shown to us and we choose not to see them? What if in order to grow we need to unlearn what we have been taught and we need to relearn to listen to our heart and intuition?
If we choose this path and this process of unlearning, we can find times of beauty, but we can also encounter moments that feel painful and dark. We may feel like we are lost within ourselves at times. These moments may feel dark because we are letting go of moments we accumulated within a lifespan and therefore we have an emotional connection to them. The mannerisms, the coping skills, the ways others showed us, and the things we accepted about ourselves that we know aren’t our true selves. We shed these things like the skin of a snake, trusting that underneath this old skin, there lays a new set of ways. A genuine structure within ourselves. A sense of confidence, trust, and knowing. A true connection with our original blueprint. A rebirth.
Although challenging, this path of unlearning is the best part of growth. A time when we gracefully shift into the version of ourselves that contains the things we have learned through others, but filtered through our own set of authentic eyes. A way to combine all of these lessons into one form. A way to take lessons from the harder moments, and joy from the lighter ones. A place where we move forward from wherever we may have come and from whatever we have gone through. A place where we start a new chapter from our authentic selves.
In the moments when we feel lost within ourselves, we also know we are returning home. Returning after a long time away. Where we turn the lights back on and have to remember where we kept things. Where we have to remember the lay of the house and of the land. Where we know we are at home, but we come here with all of the lessons of a lifetime. Bringing these lessons into the home as it becomes alive once again.
Just as I learned to walk on my own by letting go of holding on to my dog’s fur, we can let go and walk on our own. One foot in front of the other. Falling at times, but shaking it off and moving forward as this new form of self. Allowing the past to dissolve and the future to become clear. Forming the most authentic versions of ourselves, and honoring however this may look for us. Returning home once again, with the lessons we have gathered throughout this lifetime.