“...cause you don’t love me anymore….”
Getting rid of stuff is HARD! You have emotional attachments and memories that each thing holds – either to a person, place, or special time in your life. But if you no longer love it, it's time to let go.
How could you possibly get rid of your daughter’s pre-school clay creation she gave you for Mother’s Day? Or the expensive tap shoes you bought when you decided to try tap (and hated it)?
Or – worst of all – the purple sequined sombrero you brought back from your trip to Mexico that seemed so right at the time ...
Yes, I get it. I am currently wrestling with giving up my first stuffed animal. Yes, it’s from the 50s, Yes it’s fur is matted and stained with God knows what. But I loved it so much! It totally symbolized a happy time in my childhood.
But here’s the thing – it’s really gross. No child in their right mind would want to play with it. Today’s stuffed animals are soft and cute, not stiff with sawdust and un-movable joints. It’s taking up room that we no longer have and is actually a little bit embarrassing.
Letting go of things from your past is always a challenge. But these things keep you tethered to the past, mired in both good and bad memories that keep you stuck in an older, already lived time of your life. And they make it much harder to move on to the new and exciting future waiting for you.
When you release your old stuff, you free up all the old energy it symbolized. You make room for fresh energy to flow in and open yourself up to the new stuff. I don’t mean just “things” – I mean new experiences, new adventures, new friends.
And really, these mementos are just things. The pre-school clay creation is not the love your daughter was giving you – it’s just a lump of clay. Getting rid of it will never get rid of her love for you.
If you’re really worried, take a picture and write a little note describing what the occasion was, who gave it to you, and what it represented. That will be more meaningful to both of you, and leave you plenty of room to welcome the new!
“Please, release me, let me go,
For I don't love you anymore.
To waste our lives would be a sin,
Release me and let me love again.” ~ Englebert Humperdinck