It's funny how you sometimes forget great moments in your life until you are reminded of them as you organize your life. Since graduating high school, I have been to two colleges, moved nine times, stored items at Mom and Dad's over the years, purged several times during moves, and yet I still find myself facing boxes of my past that I have no idea what to do with.
What are you supposed to do with boxes of old photos, gifts, and miscellaneous items that have been a part of your life in one way or another? At what point do you decide that you no longer keep these items? Why is it so sad and heartbreaking to put these items in the trash knowing I will never see them again, yet they have been stored in boxes at least two years or more without me seeing them?
I guess life is funny like that. Deep down you know you've done some amazing things, had nights with friends that you will never forget, and had relationships with people you truly cared about and shaped the person you are today, but yet there is still a part of you that gets nostalgic at the mere sight of these objects.
This past weekend I put together bookshelves, started to organize and clean out the bedrooms, and began the process of unpacking the final boxes from my garage in anticipation of my friend moving in soon. While I had another great friend helping me out with some of the "heavy lifting," there are just some things that I had to do myself, the least of which includes going through boxes of old photos and mementos I've held onto throughout my life.
Certain items like 4-H ribbons and academic awards and trophies from high school are things I've now realized I don't need to hold onto anymore. I know I excelled at these things, and I don't need these items cluttering up my house to tell me how successful I was. Just knowing I accomplished these awards is enough for me. Not to mention, how would I hold onto them? Keep them in a box for eternity or make an award wall (which is tacky)?
Other items like photos from high school dances and those capturing the almost six years I was with my ex fiance are harder to let go of. When I think about the fact that these photos captured really happy times during my life, I don't want to let them go. But at the same time, some of these photos also represent painful, bittersweet memories because they show friendships and relationships that I no longer have, but wish I did. I've tried over the years to get rid of them but haven't been able to bring myself to do it, and honestly, I am not sure I'm ready to do so now.
It's now been two days since I started the whole process, and I still have at least half a dozen boxes that I have finished unpacking, my living is temporarily a hot mess, and I have a stack of photos and mementos that I can't decide what to do with. Why is this so difficult?
I know eventually I will have to get rid of much of what I have still left in boxes, but I think for the time being, some of it will stay. It's just not time for some them to take a ride on the Waste Management truck yet...
I know just what you mean. I am a total memory pack rat. I have such a hard time getting rid of things. We STILL have boxes and boxes of things that need to be sorted and either let go of or displayed. It's so hard.
ReplyDeleteProps to you for getting through that stuff!