Read on Twitter
Something I've been thinking about lately is how rote and automatic it is to say things like "release what doesn't serve you" in new age circles, and how potentially misguided that can be. Does everything exist to serve you? What about the things you're in service to?
I realize that's not what people always mean by that, and I'm sure I've said it in the past without really interrogating what I meant, but it seems like the sort of thing people say when they're avoiding accountability but want to frame it in a way that makes them feel good.
It's also one of those obtuse and slippery statements that's just vague enough to not mean anything.
If you name what doesn't serve you — guilt, or shame for instance — is that guilt or shame coming from harmful religious or societal expectations, or is it possibly there to let you know that you didn't act according to your own values? It's useful to make that distinction.
This also dovetails with some thoughts I've been turning around in my own mind related to animism and existing in a way that balances my own sovereignty with the ecosystem I'm invariably part of.
In the past two homes I lived in, I was eager to assert dominion over my space with routine cleansing that was done, again, in the spirit of "driving away what doesn't serve me." For reasons that may or may not have anything to do with that, I was also miserable in those spaces.
When I moved into my current place, I didn't banish or cleanse anything at all because I didn't mind the vibe that was already in there — I just started making offerings to the spirits of that place and so far, I haven't felt a need to do anything else.
I know that's not true for everyone in every situation and that people have all sorts of energetic hygiene rituals that work for them, but I've been slowly shifting into a gear of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" with that sort of stuff and I think I like that better so far —
(not the least of which because it also feels like one way I can show respect for land that's already been seized and stolen and conquered many times over)
