Dr. Rick
“How do you let go of attachment to things? Don’t even try. It’s impossible. Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them.” — Eckhart Tolle
Common sense tells us that things are just things. Things aren’t love. Things aren’t relationships. But sometimes our things have sweet meaning to us. Perhaps gifted by a loved one. Perhaps connected to important memories. Family photos, souvenirs.
But it’s healthy to remember that the importance we endow things with comes from within. This importance, this meaning, will always be with us, no matter what becomes of the things.
Having lived in “earthquake country”, also known as California, for many years, I was taught this distinction in a dramatic, ground-breaking way…literally. When your collection of whatever is found in a shattered heap, you grieve, and then realize that the love you carry in your heart isn’t broken. The memories, the stories you share, the sweet dreams of the past…they are all within, as they always were.