New Years, Birthday
or at the End of the Day
(This is an excerpt from University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Ask your child to name or write down privately what he or she wants to hold on to. A memory, a bit of insight, even a possession and what he or she wants to let go of: a frustrating event, anger or hurt, a toy or clothes that are no longer needed. Put this note of what the child wants to let go of in an envelope, seal it, decorate it, and, with appropriate weight and fanfare of ceremony, shred and burn it. You might tell a story of nature cleaning itself out each year with the change of seasons, how trees have to let go of their leaves in order to grow new ones and how what is left behind becomes compost for creation. Helping children get into that natural rhythm of constructive surrender that frees them for new delights.