Letting Go

Letting Go


All growing is changing
from one state to another.

Leaving a world behind,
entering the fear of the unaccustomed;
of colors that don't blend,
of holy words that jar,
of fractures that give rise to visions.

We have left one realm
but have not arrived at the other.
We have given up one safety
but not gained another.
Above the gazing crowd
the trapeze artist lets go of her swing,
and then, if her timing is right,
seizes the other swing,
without asking time to stop for her.
That is the flight into growth.

That is the changeover
in which we experience out nakedness
to the point of hurting.
But there is no real growth without leaping,
without burning bridges
and standing wide-eyed and shivering
on a new shore.

And yet without growth there is nothing.

-Ulrich Schaffer