merry makery
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it's murder on the dancefloor

it's murder on the dancefloor

one darling at a time

MacK Seale
May 20, 2024 • read time: 7 minutes

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hey there wonderful creatures,

have you ever found yourself clinging to ideas, habits, goals, or even relationships that you know aren’t serving you anymore?

you’re not alone.

we go through so much of our lives with figurative closets full of clothes that we never wear, but also can’t seem to part ways with. this is very unfortunate as these clothes take up more physical & mental space than you realize.

the opportunity here is learning how to "murder your darlings," a phrase borrowed from the literary world that means to cut out what's merely good to make room for the even greater.

editing our lives is even more crucial than editing a manuscript.

so today let’s let go to let in!

today’s merry menu:
🪓 prune to bloom
⚰️ 10 darlings to murder
🐚 the tortured hermits department

prune to bloom

we cling to people, places, & things way past their expiration dates, not because they still serve us, but because they are familiar.

the problem is that these comforts keep us stuck & make us miss opportunities. by holding on & refusing to let go, we dilute our focus, energy, time, & resources.

we block ourselves from becoming our best selves.

we get overwhelmed with fears of loss, uncertainty about the future, & lack of clarity. this is because closing chapters & saying goodbye to a once go-to favorite sweatshirt version of you is really really hard. it brings up all the feelings & phases of grief.

but we must remember that this is the process of making progress, murdering our darlings, pruning to encourage growth.

new levels of life require a new level of you.

snipping is self-care ✂️💖

10 darlings to murder

i recently took time off from work & realized that i’m currently living with too many darlings. this is making me feel stressed, low energy, & out of alignment.

i’m spending too much time on things that don’t matter that much to me which means i don’t have enough time to focus on what matters most.

so right now, i’m challenging myself to make hard cuts in these 10 ways:

forcing myself to pick one thing at a time
ditching perfectionism & people-pleasing
prioritizing authentic relationships & convos
breaking up with busy as a word & a lifestyle
filtering my brainstorms & research for the best ideas
taking a break from social media & removing from my phone
decluttering my physical & digital workspaces every evening
letting go of habits that don’t serve me (looking at you, sugar!)
reassessing my annual & quarterly goals to align with my why
stopping work on work that isn’t working as i hoped it would be

i love you, it's ruining my life 🎶 💔

the tortured hermits department

when i look back at the times in my life that i’ve grown the most, it’s when i made the scariest cuts. times when i left jobs, moved cities, dropped dreams, or ended relationships.

they felt in the moment like breakdowns
but looking back they’re breakthroughs.

now when i’m going through these changes i image myself like hermit crab. i’ve outgrown my current shell so i must be vulnerable & brave as i go on the journey to find my new bigger, better shell.

it’s learning to embrace, not fear, the feeling of changing chapters.

realizing in the scariest moment of change that one day you’ll look back at this story very differently. as taylor swift so eloquently put in the last lyrics of the last song on her newest album:

“now & then i reread the manuscript,
but the story isn't mine anymore.”