Like a Ferris wheel turning round and round time moves on. Last month we moved my mom out of her house that she had been in for 50+ years. It was an arduous process, to say the least. There was a rush to get stuff from several households that she had collected.

In the end, a lot of her stuff went into storage. Some I thought should have been blessed and released. And I’m sure some stuff that I thought should have been kept stayed.

Now I have a bunch of stuff that was in my room there in my house. It’s sitting there nagging at me about what I’m going to do with it. Some I will keep. Some I will box up to use later. Some I will sell or give away. I’ve already taken several loads to the Second Time Around Shop.

Mike liked to save things. He would go so far as to stop and pick up something along the side of the road thinking he might need it for something someday. This drove me crazy.

In late December I started a decluttering process. I meet with a woman weekly, and I sometimes do a little in between. Mike and I had been married for just over 32 years and we hadn’t accumulated stuff from other family members’ households as my parents had. Still, it feels like a daunting task.

Why do we have so much trouble releasing our possessions? What emotional ties do we have to it? When I went through my closet I had about one-third of the clothes or maybe a little more that I will release immediately, about one-third that I want to try on before I decide, and one-third of it that I was actively wearing. What was keeping it in my closet? I might be able to fit into that again was part of it. I’ve also found some clothes to keep not to wear but for the memories that were created when I bought them.

Then there were the letters and cards from old boyfriends. Those relationships felt complete until I started reading them. My college boyfriend was totally enamored with me, in the beginning, thinking ours was a forever love. Then at the bottom of the stack were two letters that showed his true colors. Belittling me for not having any self-discipline and when I responded blaming me for our relationship going south. Then he got interested in the girl next door and it truly ended. Then he called out of the blue when she dumped him to come to the country to heal. Fortunately, his grandmother, who was from France, was leaving shortly and he wanted to be home. Eighteen months later I got a card from him saying how much he missed me and asking if we might get back together. Grrr…that was a hard no.

Why dredge up all these memories? I believe it’s been a good experience. Every person who has come and gone in my life has helped me grow into the person I am. Reading these showed me part of that growth. I haven’t tossed them yet and was considering keeping them. After pondering on them a couple of days I believe they will go to the dumpster. I don’t need them; I have taken what I need from them.

I will do that right now – bless and release those memories and the lessons learned and give them back to the Universe.

Do you have some memories that you need to release back to the Universe? Come join my Connection Circle to bless them and let them go. Connect with me here for more information.

Sometimes it feels hard to get Across The River.

Make a Connection in the comments below.

Onward!