The last time I was home I cleaned out my old closet — which had been used as a time capsule of my life thus far.
Bins and boxes full of old photos, diplomas, notes, books, art projects, and cards. Stacks and folders of school memories and forgotten sport t-shirts, birthday presents, and locked Hello Kitty diaries.
To be completely honest I have been knowingly storing my past at my parents house. This is not good.
It was exhausting going through everything.
Eventually I just loaded the stuff back in their respective boxes and put the lid on.
We loaded everything into my car.
Don’t get me wrong – I am a huge advocate for de-cluttering.
I try to live with this mantra -
“Remember IT. But throw THAT away.”
The thing is, I don’t know what to do with all this stuff! I don’t think I can throw it all away. These are my childhood memories, you can’t just thrown them away! Or can you….?
I saved a birthday present that my best friend Katherine gave me when I turned five.
It is a rock with rocks glued on top of it.
A rock.
With rocks glued on top of it.
I have saved a rock with rocks glued on top of it for 25 years!
It might be one of the best presents I have ever received.
Is saving a rock different than saving Caladryl lotion for 25 years?
What do I do? What do I keep? What do I pitch? Where do I put all these memories? How important is the tangible object? Can I just take a photo of it? Why do we feel like we have to save? Am I saving it for my future kids? Will my ‘future’ kids even care? Will I even care in 25 more years?
Oh crap. What do I do with all this crap?
The rock obviously belongs in the garden. ;)
aaaaah! welcome to my emotional world, where objects possess value that it is intangible, where the older i get the more i need physical reminders of the memories (because pregnancy stole huge portions of my brain!) …. i don’t know if taking a photo is enough – i haven’t tried that. i don’t know if silo will care when he gets older… but somehow the thought of throwing certain memories away feels like ripping huge chunks of my heart out — even if i don’t always remember that they are there. and i must admit, it makes me feel a bit better about my own problems (although they are exponentially worse) to hear you say these things! :)
Hey Anne – Hope you are well. Its either you throw it out now, or your kids throw it out in 70 years. The only difference is whether or not your kids get to think, “Why the hell did mom keep this rock with rocks glued on it?” Either way, it ends up where its going, a nice big beautiful landfill! :D
PS: Good luck with the shoot this upcoming weekend!
Loving the new site, Anne! It looks amazing!
And I think those rocks look like they would be a perfect part of a garden. If nothing else, you can smile whenever you see it watering the plants!
That rock is wonderful. I doubt five-year-olds these days are allowed to use an epoxy that would keep rocks glued to other rocks for 25 years. :)