There is a certain kind of magic, and perhaps a little bit of terror, in the moment we stop trying to control the world around us. When Cheryl Strayed writes about how wild it was to let it be, she is touching on that raw, unscripted space where we stop gripping the reins so tightly. To let something be is to surrender the need for a specific outcome. It is an act of bravery to look at the chaos, the uncertainty, or even the sadness in our lives and decide not to fix it immediately, but simply to exist alongside it. It is a wildness because it feels unprotected, yet it is where true growth begins.
In our daily lives, we are often taught that if we aren't actively managing, planning, or correcting, we are failing. We treat our emotions like tasks on a to-do list, trying to check off 'happiness' or 'productivity' by the end of the day. We spend so much energy trying to prune our lives into perfect, orderly gardens that we forget that the most beautiful parts of nature are often the most unkempt. We struggle against the currents of change, exhausting ourselves by trying to force life into a shape that fits our comfort zones, rather than learning to swim with the tide.
I remember a time when I felt like I was losing my grip on everything. I had a plan for how my creative projects should go, and when things started to shift and veer off course, I felt a deep sense of panic. I spent weeks trying to force the old pieces back together, only to realize that the new, messy direction was actually much more vibrant and interesting. It was only when I sat down, took a deep breath, and said, 'Okay, let's see where this goes,' that the weight lifted. The wildness of that uncertainty was frightening, but it was also where I found my most inspired ideas.
Learning to let be does not mean being passive or giving up; it means trusting the process of your own life. It means acknowledging that some things are simply beyond your command, and that there is beauty in the untamed parts of your journey. It is an invitation to step out of the driver's seat for a moment and become a passenger in your own story, watching the landscape unfold without the pressure to change it.
Today, I want to encourage you to find one area of your life where you have been gripping too tightly. Is it a relationship, a career worry, or perhaps a feeling you are trying to push away? Try, just for an hour, to stop fighting it. Breathe into the wildness of not knowing, and see what happens when you simply allow it to be.