Letting Go Of Linearity

The line will have the more charm for not being mechanically straight. —Robert Frost

I've always loved a meandering line in poetry, art, and objects like the wire tires above. But in lived experience, it can be hard to accept when a straight line suddenly turns back on itself or veers off in another direction. A recent example from my life—a family member was healing steadily following a major health episode and then suffered an unexpected setback and was once again bedridden for days. This shock of this experience revealed my attachment to the straight line of progress.

In private sessions, I see others using the straight line to measure their progress, too, and how temporary setbacks get internalized as failure. I work with them, as I do with myself, to identify and shift the mindset. We often don’t even realize that our frame for the situation is hurting us more than the situation itself.

By changing our words, we can change our perspective. It’s a powerful aphorism from Gretchen Rubin’s book Secrets of Adulthood and a strategy I use all the time.

These are some of the things I’m saying to myself as I navigate said family member’s unpredictable recovery:

Let go of linearity

Away from linearity, toward lyrical

Not mechanical, meandering.

Are there situations in your life where the attachment to linear progress is complicating things for you, too?

What would shift if you could let go of linearity?