Today, I started letting go of some little things around the house that once were sentimental but now only irk me or make me sad. Nothing like symbols of shattered dreams lying about to remind me of things that don’t deserve space in my brain any longer.
Getting rid of most of the big stuff was easy and I took care of all that ages ago. Shared bed, gone. Sheets, gone. Pictures out of frames.
Little stuff is harder for me. Jewelry, Christmas ornaments, notes that came with flowers: I have a harder time with all the little stuff. All these artifacts of times gone by are harmless to anyone but me. Seeing that ring makes my jaw tighten up to think of all the faith and trust I put out there once upon a time; those ornaments make my heart sink, painted by little hands at my kitchen table. Despite the yucky feelings, I still have a hard time getting rid of those things. I don’t want that part of my life back, no way, but I am still sentimental about the odds and ends that were part of that old existence.
The notes are words that don’t make sense to me now, so those got shredded. The rest, these jewels and ornaments and things I happen upon in drawers and closets, I am parting with those little by little, and I started today. These items might make me sad, but they will make someone else smile, and that feels like an act that might restore balance to the world: giving someone else a reason to smile. By getting these little reminders out of my house, I am restoring happiness to my corner of the world, cleaning out the cobwebs to make room for all the good things that are happening now.