I’m a bit of a sentimental old fool.
I love knickknacks and postcards and photos from years past.
They’re relics of a fleeting moment; they make up the personal museum of my life.
So, sometimes it can be hard to just let. things. go.
You know?
And while this is certainly true of our physical possessions, (Do I really need all seven tee shirts from my days of working at the ice cream shoppe?) I find it even more difficult to let go of my emotional baggage. (I hate that term. Baggage. Surely as a writer I can come up with a better metaphor. But oh well. We’ll leave that for another day.)
I’m a Stephen King fan.
There is still a lot I haven’t read (like The Dark Tower series. Yep. Go ahead and judge.) but he’s my favorite author. Reading his work is like coming home from a long trip to find your house sparkling clean, fresh sheets on the bed and a gentle breeze at the window.
He knows what he’s doing.
I mention this because I recently donated some paperbacks to my local Good Will.
And it was hard, yo. I had some second thoughts.
Because while I’ve read these–and most likely won’t again–they were a part of me.
They were relics, dear friends.
I was in high school when I found these, fifty cents each at The Salvation Army. My adolescent fingers turned those pages, and felt the power of fiction. I realized how much I love reading (and writing) through the hours and hours I spent with these stories.
Dreamcatcher, my favorite of the bunch, accidentally took a dip in The Atlantic Ocean when a rogue wave lapped it from my beach chair. Having finished 800 pages or so, and therefore panicking, I jumped in after it.
We’d been through too damn much together.
And after setting the sopping volume in the sun for awhile, its pages crinkly from salt water and sea air, I carried on with the story.
But now, years later with a different life and a shelf filled with new tales to discover, I find I have no need for these. They’re book trophies.
In fact, it felt selfish to hold them captive.
They have a lot of life left to give, to someone new.
Time to pay it forward. May many more readers enjoy the journey that awaits.
. . .
What do you need to let go of, Dear Reader? How can we embrace the beauty of moving forward?
SnapDragon identifies as an educator, artist, and certified badass.
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I think I don’t keep memories in the physical form that much, which is why I tend to throw things away. The memories live in my head. So, my ‘baggage’ is emotional almost entirely.
Thanks for the comment! Are there any techniques that help you deal with your emotional baggage? 🕊
Writing is my major tool now:)
That’s great! It is definitely a powerful one. 🕊
I’m not so much sentimental about my things. What I’m sentimental about is my kids’ things. Their first baby blanket. The outfits they wore home from the hospital. Every piece of paper they’ve scratched or scribbled or drawn on or written “I love you, Mom” in crayon. Those are the things I have a hard time letting go of.
And I’m pretty good at letting go of most emotional baggage. I don’t have the bandwidth to carry that stuff around forever.
you are blessed. I have to do a lot of work on myself to let go of my emotional baggage, I am over sentimental
Great comment! I am pregnant with our first and I’m sure I will have a hard time getting rid of ANYTHING. Thanks for reading! 🕊
I have been practicing this letting go of things since long. I guess If I have to let go is may be the mobile numbers, photographs, previous emails/chats of some people of past. I should let go of them.
Thanks for your comment, Amber. Letting go definitely can be easier said than done. I wish you the best! 🕊
Thank You! An eye opener and a different paradigm.
Thanks, friend! 🕊
I really like how you connect the two kinds of “baggage,” material objects and emotional. Not just conceptually, but showing how letting go of one may be part of letting of the other.
Thank you, friend. They certainly can be related. 🕊
Letting go of things is hard – especially when they have some cash value. I know I’ve kept a lot because of that, and I’ve kept a lot of stuff because “One day it will fit”. The thing is, that stuff, that history, takes up so much space (and money and energy) that there’s not a lot of room for the new and the exciting and interesting.
I finally started weeding out t-shirts – not just the ones too ratty to be worn in public, but I love anyway – but the ones that don’t fit, that make me feel worse about my body.
It’s interesting that half my life is packed in the garage right now – and I don’t miss it all. That says something about what needs to go, and whom.
So true! That’s such a great point about letting go of stuff that no longer serves us, or worse, makes us feel bad. 🕊
Thanks for this great reminder! There’s so much I need to let go of. I tend to be a collector, so things pile up around me. It’s been good for me to live in several countries, though, because I always had to travel light. I really regret having lost contact with friends over the years. That’s a deep regret. Things, though, are another matter entirely. I do get the idea that objects connect us with our past, with our memories. So, in a sense, it’s not the object itself that we cling to–it’s that they connect us to our past lives. Again, thanks for this. You’ve given me a lot to think about here.
Thanks, Troy. I always appreciate your thoughtful comments! 🕊
I can absolutely relate. I recently gifted a pile of Stephen King books to a friend’s daughter who was thrilled to take them.
There is one of his books I’ve bought many times cuz I love it but I love to give it to budding young writers I meet. On Writing by Stephen King is one book I always pick up when I see it second hand cuz it’s such a fascinating biopic and the writerly advice he gives is unparalleled by most other books about the how, the what, the why and the when of writing and how to, what’s that saying- writing is easy, just open a vein, I think. Lol!
I enjoyed your piece very much and you’ve inspired me to gift more of my treasured books that I love but am unlikely to read again😊
PS I haven’t read the Dark Tower series either😉
On Writing is a total gem. I’ve referenced it several times while teaching, and I’m due to read it again. Thanks for your comment, friend. And long live the (Stephen) King! 🕊