Reader you've heard the saying,

...which sounds completely ridiculous.

Not only does it not make logical sense, try acting on this theory - which is NOT acting, by the way. In case you haven't tried it - is NOT easy.

Crush It & Conquer 😬 !

It's not easy because it's not the way we've lived the previous 5, 6 decades of our lives. Build a career? You MAKE sh*t happen, you don't let go. Get the promotion, the client, the husband, the house in the country... you don't let anything go. You grab it and wrestle it to the ground, and crush it into submission. You live by the rule that life gets better by conquering, not evolving.

If that's the life you want to continue in your next chapter, yay you. But you can quit reading now.

It Takes Strength to Let Go

For the rest of you, letting go of a need for control is a BIG conversation, much bigger than this email. Trusting and letting go of the need for control takes time and practice. It's also a big part of what I learned after retiring and that prompted me to write the 6 Phases of Life After Career.

Here's a simple, yet profound example of the wonder and synchronicity that will start showing up when you're able to give up control over what you have no control over anyway.

Letting Go in Savannah

Savannah, GA is about halfway between where I am in Charleston and where my friend Barb is in St. Augustine. Sunday we decided to meet in the middle, for a quick, 24-hour visit. Neither of us had been there and - well, why not?

We booked a hotel. That's it. Barb & I didn't talk about what to do, what to see, where to eat, nothing. We just showed up and let the trip unfold.

The French Connection

Those of you who are new to the BOLD tribe, it's important to know I've been in love with France forEVER and that I'm moving to France in June. Naturally, I have been thinking, dreaming, imagining, visiting France for many decades. This is my contribution to what follows.

Letting Go: Paris-ish Cafe & Flea Market

Back to Savannah. We headed out for coffee and a bite with no direction in mind. Barb looked up and says "Look, it's The Paris Market & Brocante!" In we go for a lovely café and nosh. It was really like a Parisian cafe, right down to the French Bistro rattan chairs and marble table tops. It was lovely.

After our taste of Paris, we ventured out again, walking through green park after park. Savannah is full of history and open green spaces. It is beautiful. Again, with no direction in mind, we passed one of the 70 SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) buildings in Savannah, a museum of the history of the school. The building was gorgeous, the admission was free - so in we went.

Playing around with an interactive timeline display of the college history, I eventually stop on the year 2002. Something's familiar. What is it. It was a picture of a medieval looking village on a hill.

20 years earlier, in 2003 I vacationed for a couple of weeks in Bonnieux, a tiny village n the Luberon region of Provence.

Letting Go : 20 years Full-Circle

A neighboring village to Bonnieux, Lacoste, was home to the Chateau de Marquis de Sade. Yes, really. Of course I had to check THAT out. Walking around the the ruins and exploring the rest of Lacoste I met several people who were renovating many of the village's medieval structures. They were from a U.S. art school and were building a French campus in Lacoste.

Yes. It was SCAD who had purchased much of the old stone structures in Lacoste, creating a French campus. Here I was in Savannah, looking at pictures of the Lacoste construction that I had stood in 20 years before, not knowing anything about SCAD or Savannah, GA. Chills.

After the SCAD museum it was time to find a cafe and a spot to experience the eclipse. It wasn't a full eclipse on the east coast, but 70-80% was still a spectacle. We end up at Collins Quarter, a cafe at Forsyth Park, the main, and largest, Central Park type of green space. It was the perfect spot.

Letting Go: Bordeaux Connection

Barb had fortunately planned ahead and brought 3 pair of solar viewing glasses, 2 for us and 1 to share. Yay! We sit out on the patio, order our mimosas and get ready for the eclipse.

The table next to us was speaking - you guessed it - French. I overheard a woman asking if they had any extra viewing glasses in French. I went over to the table and, even though in broken and basic French, I offered our 1 to share pair of glasses.

Within a couple of minutes they knew I was moving to France, I had made a new connection in Bordeaux who has an American friend living in Paris, and a reliable contact who can assist with moving contents if I need. We exchanged numbers and have a tentative plan to connect in the fall. Chills.

Manage What You Can, Let the Rest Go

The lovely breakfast cafe, a 20-year Lacoste full-circle, and my new friends in Bordeaux. Had I been determined to have the "proper" Savannah visit - I doubt these things would have manifested.

The universe is amazing if you let it unfold. Not that you have no input or responsibility, but letting go of the need for control will change you for the better. It's the Next Chapter I want.

As always, thank you for reading. If you haven't already, block out May 22, 23, & 24 on your calendar for "Don't Retire! ReWIRE", a 3-day virtual women's circle, retreat. Letting Go is just one of many topics we'll be talking about and practicing, together and individually. You will want to be there.

More details coming the first week of May. Just hit reply to this email with questions.

xoxo

Lynnelle "Letting Go" Wilson

PS - Again, you will not want to miss "Don't Retire! ReWIRE" in May. Block the days on your calendar now. You'll be glad you did.

PSS - If you're not already part of our private Facebook Group, please join us! Announcements and connections happen here.