DAY 12 -- CLEANING OUT THE PAST

I am a very sentimental person. And I have a lot of items filled with sentimental memories. I have my mom’s china, my grandma’s crystal, my dad’s college Shakespeare book. I cherish these belongings, I care for them, and they have great meaning to me.

   But as I walk around my house, there are other items – items with different memories. Items that remind me of difficult times. Items that make me sad. So as part of this 83-day Journey, I decided to clear those things out of my house and out of my life. 

   There were lots of items from my past, linked to past relationships -- those needed to leave. Big and little. Furniture and mementos. The bits and pieces of my life collected over the years that no longer fit who I am or where I want my life to go.

   So these past few weeks, I have filled box after box. Watching the pile grow taller and taller. Letting go of the memories. Letting go of the pain. Letting go of the past.

   A few pieces I have taken pictures of, because I no longer need the item but want to remember something about it. And, too, there few pieces I hope to forget.

   So, tomorrow my friend Sarah Knight and I are having an Estate Sale. She is in this “Cleaning Out Your Life” mode too. And together we have A LOT of stuff. It’s time for these cherished belongings to go and become new memories for someone else. They have served their purpose in our lives. It's time for them for find new purpose for someone else.

Never turn down an antique, even if it clashes. If it was your grandmother's and it's pretty, take it. Someday you'll be glad.