Cleaning Memories

While at my parents' house last week, my attention was brought to a series of boxes belonging to me sitting on shelves in the garage.  This initially came as a surprise.  I truly felt that I had taken most of my belongings with me in my frequent moves.  Apparently I was wrong.  So, one morning I decided to go through the boxes -- a brave and daring adventure.

What I found in those boxes was a collection of letters, yearbooks, photos, mission paraphernalia from Japan and large amounts of books.  I was surprised to find that I still had strong attachments to many of the items -- somehow feeling that getting rid of them would be the end of the world.  Each item represented a specific part of myself -- a specific role from my past.  I forced myself to work through the items and eventually managed to reduce the contents from eight boxes to three.  I took a large load to Deseret Industries gave some items to my siblings and tossed the rest.  There is truly something therapeutic about cleaning house -- reducing the many boxes we have to a more manageable number.  Figuring out what we are ready to let go of and what we still want to hold onto.  I tossed many many pictures and letters.  But I also held onto random objects and mementos.  It helped me to once again redefine who I am -- who I want to be -- and to gain a clearer vision of who I was.

I highly recommend it.