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letting go, carrying on

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I haven’t used this GoodsSweat3 hankie for some time (the photo below was the original product shot we took in 2015). This phrase 拿得起放得下was contributed by filmmaker Tan Pin Pin Growing up I hear this phrase mostly in kungfu shows. The man would thump his chest and declare - 男子漢,拿得起放得下!(I’m a man! If I can take something up I can also let it go!) - meaning he is man enough to not become attached to things or people. Instead of bravado, Pinpin had shared this phrase in the context of her creative process where editing is difficult but so necessary. Editing is a process of clarifying intent, structuring thought, realizing composition. But we can sometimes be so attached to an idea or a certain part which we struggle to let go. But all creative work demands a critical eye to edit. Sometimes the creator is too close to the work and they need someone else to provide the editing eye.  Of course, letting go is never easy. How do we know when we have to persevere and hold on? Or when to “cut yo