Breathe Magazine – Issue 83 (Current Issue)

In this issue: Wish you were here – Rewind to unwind – Character building – The avoidance trap – Local love – Spirit of the woods – Stress dial – The creative’s companion – Just for fun – Best served… chilled

Answering the door to things you don’t want to face can be hard. Occasionally it simply blows open – as with the death of a loved one, for instance, or a serious illness – but often the issue you need to address is a gentle tapping in the background, a niggling awareness that something inside deserves more attention. It might be a habit you know is no longer serving you, a conversation you rehearse in the shower but never have or even a memory that pains you, but you choose to ignore.

People are adept at keeping those doors closed. Some fool themselves they can’t hear the knocking, that everything is fine, even when friends and family know that not to be the case. The idea of opening it and being forced to make a change feels too overwhelming. Others may try to drown out the noise by staying busy, or avoiding anything that magnifies it.
Holding tightly onto that handle can feel safer, but it takes a lot of energy. And it’s harder to pick up something new when both hands are occupied. Ignoring what’s on the other side might work in the short term, but the clamouring doesn’t stop; often it gets worse, and more demanding.

Letting go offers the chance to meet yourself where you are, to see a way out and plan a path forward. It opens up the opportunity to explore a new direction, and see what happens. There will have been valid reasons it was pulled shut in the first place, but with kindness and compassion it’s possible to crack it open. No door is locked forever.