When Memories are Attached to Things
All throughout the pandemic, I have been trying to clean and donate some of my unused items, old clothes, books and trinkets. I would clean and organize my closet and drawers, and whenever I feel I cleared a space in my closet or drawer, it would get filled up again in the next week---a never-ending cycle (or recycle) is happening in my life!
Well, during this invitation of letting go through the Franciscan Challenge (www.fssh.net), I chose to let go of things that have memories. Sometimes those memories get me stuck in the past joys--in the "how it was." In my drawer I have things that people gave me, or things that I have picked up during my retreat, like holy cards.
The things that belonged to earth, I gave back to earth (for example, shells, tree bark, leaves, stones, and so on). For the things that were given to me, I donated them to the thrift shop. For the holy cards, I sat and prayed with them and placed them in the recycle bin. It was hard at first because those had meaning, but then I realized that the memories of those people and the things they gave me have always been in my I think I will make a monthly tradition of this exercise of "Letting Go" of not only the material things, but also the personal attitudes and bad habits that I must release to allow space for transformation.