Who Am I Without All My Attachments?

I recently had an experience where I deleted a whole bunch of pictures and posts on my personal Facebook page. I didn’t care or want others to see everything about me. Once I was more level-headed I went back to my page. I felt like there was something missing after deleting so much of my stuff. Who am I without all my attachments?

We Have Attachments to Things

Nothing has changed. I still experienced those moments but didn’t have the pictures as proof. So why did the pictures make it feel more real? Because they were attachments I had. I felt lost without all my stuff.

I wondered if I should delete the rest of my posts and pictures too. I don’t need to prove to myself or anyone that my life is great. Does it mean that my life isn’t great if I don’t have proof to show the world? No.

Is Social Media Causing Us to Be More Attached to Things?

What did we do before we had social media to define us? We had experiences and actually experienced them! We didn’t need to have so many pictures and things to make us who we are. We didn’t have all the attachments we now have from Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms. 

Moments Are What Life is All About, Not Things

We are so attached to things that we forget what really matters – being in those moments in the first place. We are so preoccupied with taking the perfect picture so we can put it on Facebook. This way we will always have a reminder of how much fun we had instead of trusting that our memories are enough.

When we are always concerned with ‘things’ then we don’t get the chance to experience the ‘moments’ and to be fully present in them.

Attachments Aren’t Meant to Last Forever

I had an experience after the crazy eclipses of 2016 where I felt like I lost a lot of people in my life. I switched CrossFit gyms and felt an emptiness like I was never even there and a part of that community. But I was there and I had some extremely great moments there. However, once you lose the attachments you can feel lost and like things never existed.

I contemplated who I was now that I no longer had attachments to my friends at CrossFit. I quit my job not long ago and no longer had attachments to anyone there. Who was I if I didn’t have these people to help me define myself? I felt lost.

These attachments help us to define who we are. For example, maybe you are a doctor. If you lose your job does that mean that you are a different person? No, you are the same. You are not playing that role anymore but that is not the whole of who you are.

If you are married and become a widow does that mean that you are nothing now? No, you are still the same person even though you are no longer a wife. Do you lose your sense of self when your role in the world changes?

Try Getting Rid of an Attachment You Love

One great thing that Wayne Dyer suggests is to get rid of something that you love. Maybe a piece of clothing or a decoration. It doesn’t have to be anything big. The reason for this is because we can get so attached to things that it helps us to break that tie. By doing this we understand that life is so much more than ‘things’.

I did what he said with a favorite pair of shorts. I still miss those shorts, but I am ok because I know they are just a thing. It didn’t change who I am as a person.

We Come Into This World with Nothing & Leave with Nothing

When we die, we take absolutely nothing with us, not even our physical bodies. So, we lose every single attachment we have.  But we never lose the moments and the people we meet.

Every relationship we have is an eternal one and will never be forgotten. Once we cross over to the spiritual realm, we remember everything and everybody that we forget when we come down to earth.

Attachments Are Just Things & They Don’t Define You

It’s difficult to lose attachments but it is the way life works. Energy is constantly in motion and therefore nothing stays the same.

Try to get rid of some of your attachments and see how you feel. You will probably feel uncomfortable at first but after you adjust you will feel free. You don’t need those things to define who you are.

Once you transition to the spiritual realm you won’t take any of those things along with you anyways. You will have the one thing that you can never ever lose, your life experiences. All the good and bad ones that make you who you are.

~Meghan