Memories Old and New
As I was cleaning this weekend, I took a good long look at the picture frames sprinkled around my house. Every now and then I take particular notice of them, but most of the time they blend in to the surround sound of visual white noise.
What I thought about is how old the pictures are and why I bother to keep them on display. Why keep them up if I don’t pay attention to them? Why, with all of the wonderful new memories I have, with the thousands of photos I take every year, do I continue to display old ones?
Am I clinging to the past or celebrating it?
I have a tendency toward infusing objects with my emotions. Or perhaps confusing objects with emotion. To put away a photo can feel like a statement that the experience it documents doesn’t matter, as though I’m saying that time in my life, that person, that memory has no value to me. Throwing or giving away sentimental items is even harder.
I’ve been working on that these last two years, with great results, but I don’t think it’s a part of me that will ever really change.
It does get easier. This time I kept some and took some down. I definitely want to highlight new memories, but there are a few old times that I’m not yet ready to let out of my sight.
And that’s okay.
♦
Items of Interest:
How do you know when it’s time to let go?
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steadily skipping stones 