There’s an old tradition attributed to certain Native American tribes in which a person hangs a small basket outside the entrance to his or her lodging, providing a place for guests to leave their personal problems or complaints before entering. (The modern equivalent might be telling someone to “check it at the door.”) The symbolism of the “burden basket” is empowering; it represents our ability to pull from our own inner strength and become self-reliant, trusting ourselves to let go of our baggage.
When we can be responsible for the energy we bring to places, we affect our experience and those we come into contact with. When you leave your burdens in a “basket” you generate a lighter energy around you. When you complain and share your burdens everywhere you go, you bring your energy and those around you down. You get a better opportunity to be present and connect with the space and people you interact with when you can learn to put your burdens aside.
Also carrying our burdens and sharing them in other people’s spaces breeds the attraction of more burdens to you. There is a time and place to process and deal with dramas and issues in our life, but often we don’t notice we carry them around with us and share that energy, drumming up more burdensome energy. We weigh ourselves and others down when we carry them rather than leaving them in a basket.
If you practice carrying and sharing your problems and burdens everywhere you go, you may have to practice small steps to start becoming more aware of the energy you bring to other spaces and how you interact with others. Do you talk about the things going well when you see others? Or do you share mostly mishaps and woes? It is important to pay attention to what you are not only putting out, but the weight you may be carrying with you everywhere, everyday.
The weight of anxiety, stress, and worry is a heavy burden to carry and not so uplifting for others. Pay attention to the language you use when you speak and catch up with others. When someone asks “How are you?” or “How have you been?”, where does your story go? Be mindful of the energy you share as you get to choose the energy to be in and attract back to yourself.
It may be an even more powerful and therapeutic ritual to buy or make your own burden basket. Sometimes when we go through the motion of writing, drawing, or a tangible action, it is a more powerful declaration for your brain. Some of us need a literal release and a step further than just a verbal intention. Even if it is just for a few hours or a day or two, try to practice the act of putting your burdens, problems, and worries in the burden basket until something helpful can be done. You give yourself a break from that energy to allow more possibilities and solutions in. You can allow more clarity to either deal with the situation better, or a higher vibration of ideas and improved solutions your way.
I think you will be amazed at how your life can turn around and improve when you can put your burdens down for periods of time. Be mindful of the burdens you share with others. There are times and places that sharing and unleashing your burdens is beneficial, such as when you use a burden basket, therapist, or trusted friend that can hold a healthy space for you without taking on your burdens as well. What I’m describing is in your everyday life. We don’t generally solve every problem, every second of the day. It can be so very uplifting to lay our burdens down.
It is healing and life-giving to lay some worries in our burden baskets behind. Give yourself the joy to spend better time with others. You may find yourself enjoying the break and removing much weight from yourself. That upliftment gives you the power to enjoy your day and time better along with being open for better things to come. I do believe your actions and self- reliance will rise up to meet you.