Just the other day I was working on packing up my things from an old room to move into a new one and I started going through the memories littered throughout the notebooks and boxes. My handwriting was scrawled on countless pages of journals, indicating the best and worst parts of my life. I personally think it’s amazing how much we hold onto these things and how we label them with sentimental value.
When I was going through an old box with torn sides I found a hospital band from my sophomore year of high school when I was in a below-average place. I stared at it for a moment, why had I kept it? It wasn’t a good memory by a long shot, but somehow I wasn’t ready to let it go. That was when my girlfriend told me to throw it out, outlining the truth in the matter that I was blind to, “you don’t need a reminder of that,” and that was a true statement, I didn’t need the reminder yet somehow I didn’t want to throw it away.
I ended up throwing the object away along with several other things I should have thrown out long ago. While I am still holding onto the journals from various parts of my life, I can understand the purpose of throwing things away when needed.
One of the main things I got from this experience was the fact that your past doesn’t define you, nor should you let it. Yes, I should understand the fact that I stayed in the hospital and accept that the year surrounding that incident happened but I shouldn’t obsess over it to the point of drowning myself in my past. Sometimes it’s okay to let the current carry certain events down the river and out of sight. If we don’t let go, we can never move on. That period of my life doesn’t define me because I don’t let it.
So don’t hold onto the past too tightly. Yes, it happened but no, you don’t have to relive it like your own personal hell.
Wishing you all the best,
Stan
Long Drives in the Dark 