I can probably say with some level of certainty that most of us may have heard this saying; 'it's like having the rug pulled out from under your feet'. And I can say with even more certainty that most of us, have experienced that sudden reset that comes with a new configuration of things, changing the rhythm and meaning of things as you knew them. The proverbial saying reminds us of the movement of things, of the potentiality of 180° turns and all degrees in between, that things can often take.
Even though our brains are wired and shaped by this very force, the sudden changes, the unexpected and the fear that pushed and pressed ensuring our survival in some way, we despair and deny it at all costs. You'd think that after millions upon millions of years we'd come to understand that airborne-like feeling of having detached from one state of knowing to another and found ways to deal with it other than fear, denial and pain. I feel that it is within those precious seconds surrounding the space between the detachment from one reality to the creation of another, that the clearest source of reference of the Zero sum of all things lies. It is within this space, like the pause between the inhale and the exhale that we access the potential of ourselves.
The thing is that our brains are also wired to hold on to things, to create structures on borrowed land, on nonexisting land actually. The stories we are so eager to believe, out of necessity, loyalty and survival, are as important as the vagueness of the space that holds them. Quite a predicament we find ourselves in, so many layers to the letting go and the staying put. I feel that the rhythms of our life are punctuated and kept in tune by this very force, the letting go and the staying put.
There's really nothing I could add to what you already know about that uncomfortable feeling, which tugs, pulls and pinches when the rug is taken from under your feet. It's a moment of liberation of sorts, of true forgiveness and openness to grief and to the sorrow that comes from disappointment, letting go. This grief, however is the same portal which scoops you at wormhole speed and whose meaningful (and torcido) journey eventually delivers you out onto the land of surrender, release, openness and hope. The Hero's Journey? only that this journey is never quite done, some of yesterday linked to today which together continue to deliver the tomorrow.
I was thinking about what happens once the rug gets pulled, what are we left with, what is there...underneath the rug when it gets pulled from under your feet? Well, the ground of course, the dense surface which holds us in place despite the terrain we project onto it. The steadiness of that billions year old packed dirt patch we stand on, made of star dust, mineral and water continues to hold, offer a place to land, to stay put even in the letting go. When the 'known' begins its retreat and we're left with the void of things not yet shaped or solidified, the ground holds and catches the fall. Once you land and the thud has faded from your ear, begin to notice the steadiness, the neutral offering of the ground that holds you even in the letting go.