The Art of Letting Go

Photo by C. Laranjeira © OutOfTheLinesPress

There’s a strange kind of pressure that creeps in when you open a blank page.

It sits quietly at first… a little nudge to make something nice, something worthwhile, something that at least looks like you tried.

But what if this week, you tried less?

Not in a careless, unbothered way, but in a gentle, forgiving, let-your-shoulders-drop kind of way. 

What if your page didn’t need to be tidy, or pretty, or shared? 

What if your colouring didn’t have to prove anything — not even to yourself?

This is the week of scribbles in the margins. 

Of shaky outlines, and colour that spills beyond them. 

Of starting without knowing how it will end — and not needing to.

It’s about letting go.

Letting go of the blank page fear. 

Letting go of perfection. 

Letting go of the idea that creating has to come with pressure, or planning, or performance.

Because there’s something quietly radical about choosing imperfection on purpose. It reminds you that you’re allowed to play. That your value doesn’t live in the outcome. That sometimes, the softest acts of rebellion are made with pencil in hand.

So here’s your invitation: 

Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect mood. 

Just pick up a colour and make a mark. 

Any mark.

A smudge counts. A doodle counts. A half-finished thought counts.

You're not falling short.

You’re simply colouring outside the lines: where the real joy lives.

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Pause & Reflect

What would happen if you gave yourself permission to get it “wrong” on purpose today? 

Could you find joy in the mess, the smudge, the not-quite-right?

Try starting a page without a plan. 

Let the lines wander. Let the colours clash. Let it be beautifully, gloriously imperfect.

Then ask yourself: 

How did that feel? 

What did you let go of? 

And what did you make space for instead?