I think there have been many books, theories and practices regarding the topic of letting go of the past.

This subject has entered my life, like many themes — within subtle conversations and information. I find much of my practice is listening these themes, whether they come to me by the universe or by my own personal energetic attraction.

For many years I traveled through many lands.

This many years of wandering could have been attributed to my thirst for adventure, but i know my travels held a very deep inward need to understand the outside world as well as the inward.

The dilemma with travel is that sometimes the outside world is very distracting in its beauty and mystery. Sometimes it takes being in one place to really see what is emerging from within oneself. This confrontation with oneself can be quite blinding at first.

The desire for me to escape into travel was immense, probably just as immense as one who has stayed in one place for years and escapes into the bottle, the parties, the consumption, the busyness. It’s quite something to live with ease within one’s own existence.

But what does this take? Do we have to delve through every memory? Every trauma? Every experience that has shaped us into who we are? Or can we ignore and just live as is?

I truly believe it is within us to find a subtle balance of learning about ourself and artistically enjoying our present reality.

Letting go of residual pain may be the only way to be free of the past, but embracing our total self is just as important so as to carry our soul intact. These wounds are the battle scars of our existence. They make us beautiful. Embracing the wrinkles of our inner psyche allows us to flow on with grace and strength. It reminds me of plastic surgery — seeking perfection and cutting out our inner trauma, only gives an artificial perfection…

The most beautiful artifacts of human history are the ones worn with time and cared for with love. There is nothing like touching a smooth native canoe, made with love, thrashed by the ocean, and laid to rest to be admired as it breaks down back to the cosmos.

To finally be present and allow life to continue, let things flow as they do.

Allow the feelings of intuition to subtly burble into reality and  be met with the outside world. Shed the cocoon of what once was and open the wings of freedom to be!

Enjoy being in the right place, having one’s expression be understood, and enjoy the good feelings surrounding life. It’s feeling life flowing like water — stilling the mind into the present enough to embrace the life that surrounds us.. It’s beautiful, connected and harmonious.

Posted by Brianna Bemel

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Amanda Ramcharitar is a yogini, animal lover and environmentalist, as well as an artist, writer, ponderer and wanderer. She seeks to experience life through the expansive awareness of possibility and hope. Follow Amanda on  Twitter or Facebook.