This picture is from longer ago than I like to admit. It was in the middle of Naomi’s “obsessed with Frozen” phase that many kids experienced at that time. It was during our first trip to Disney and that song…you know the one…THAT SONG was EVERYWHERE. Not a day went by where I was not inundated with repeated choruses of “Let It Go”…and yet, I didn’t. I didn’t then and I haven’t since and in a lot of ways, I’m still not doing it now…but I’m trying. I’m trying real hard.
Right now, I’m doing a sort and purge of my life that comes after the death of a parent. I’m also trying to reorganize and streamline my life because I’m headed to back surgery and I am going to be a lot less physically capable for the next 6 months to a year. I’m also finally finished with eleven years of obligation to the purposes with which my father tasked me upon his passing. 11 years. At my age that means 20% of my lifespan. It feels like this huge weight is gone and now I’m sorting through all of these things that I’ve kept.
Last night, I sorted out 10 pounds of product manuals that I had kept filed over the years. I went through literally hundreds of manuals and warranties and flyers that I had been keeping in a filing cabinet. They filled three 9″x12″ manilla envelopes and a folder that had to be at least 4 inches thick.
I kept 2 manuals. Everything else was junk. Manuals and such for items that I don’t even own anymore. It was ridiculous.
I think that we all struggle with letting go of something, whether it is the past, the accumulation of physical items, holding onto feelings, or just not moving on. Humans just don’t seem to be good at letting go…
and so things own us…
and consume us…
and hold us down…
and keep us in the same place.
Forever.
Well, not forever.
Just until we let it go.