Anna Tai-Hogan

02/11/25

Making the past an opportunity

The past does not have to hinder us, served like a prison sentence tied up in chains. It is very easy to say ‘let go’, ‘be present’ or even ‘be happy’. But what are we letting go of, if we are not aware of it? How can we be present, if we are stuck muddled and distorted? Lastly, what is happiness if it is not rooted in lasting peace? This is the work and path of awakening. Perhaps of what we did not know. Which is the point. I believe we have to come to the very part of ourselves where innocence and vulnerability even hurt is free to express, why doesn’t this make sense and seek refuge. It involves a sense of maturity, wonder, trust, pure heartedness, and worth. It was said by Sigmund Freud, “One day, in retrospect. The years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful”. Perhaps it is only then, we realise that we are and as we are- because of it. 

Which intrigues me to ask what else can it be? What else can be squeezed out of it? Or how can I even best behold it? Perhaps lightly, perhaps expressively, perhaps to a higher power or will if that is what you believe. Perhaps my intent here, is an offering of expanse like a space to sew a seed. The past in all its glory, takes time… such is faith.

If you are struggling with the past, my heart goes out to you. I suppose the best thing we can do is choose heart. That is a choice. Even if we don’t know if the past is affecting us still, but we have a feeling – trust in what you know. And in each and everyday, as healing like roots takes time to grow. Seek not if you are whole, seek what is true in you. True, like honest embodies the ability to be real. Personally I like real. I am drawn to what lives by a real nature, in every way. We may not hear much about it in western psychology though the ancient ways are very alive. Like the beat of our hearts, mirroring the ancestral sound of the drum as an inner knowing of what we knew not before.

Let us open, let us settle into not knowing. And the wider question as the journey unfolds, as to what the past truly holds for you. Being really you, exciting!