To Keep or Not to Keep?

So, while I am in the process of throwng things away, I came across a box full of sentimental crap. I say crap because it really serves no other purpose than to remind me of the past. Nametags from summer camps, playbills from all the plays I was in, trophies for girl of the year, band awards, debate awards, match books, movie ticket stubs, etc. None of it (except maybe the playbills) looks good enough to put on display anywhere really. So what is its fate? Should I keep it anyway and just let it take up storage space for the rest of my life, only pulling it out in 10 or 15 years to show my child, who really probably won’t care anyway??

I have always thought that it was a gift to have such a great memory of the past. I mean, I can remember things all the way back to when I was 3 years old. When I look at those nametags, I can remember exactly what all of those counselors and friends looked like, even though I haven’t seen them for 20 years. Lately, I’ve been thinking that I let myself get trapped in those memories a little too much. I spend time thinking of the past and wishing that I had made better decisions, or even wishing I was still back there. (Even though I love where I am now.) I wonder if it would be wiser to just start letting go of the past. Maybe I should throw away all of those trophies that don’t serve any purpose other than to remind me that once upon a time, I was the kind of girl who won trophies. It’s time I started winning new things, making new trophies in my life. I think it’s important to remember the past, but not to get caught up in it for too long. I think that now is the time for truly letting go of that past and trying to recreate that girl I once was… and it’s time to truly start becoming who I will be.