I continue to deal with the question of what to do with all the material things one manages to collect during a lifetime. I have downsized a bit, but there is always more. What I'm finding is that it's much more difficult to throw away letters, cards, and photographs than objects.
I want to give them some sort of ceremony before I put this ephemera in a trash can. Burning things in a fireplace seems like the way to go, but that's not possible these days. Tearing up things I would rather nobody read or see seems rather crude and cruel. Sure, nobody will know, but it's difficult to destroy art and notes that were originally filled with love and concern.
To make matters worse, I've recently been sent envelopes of similar things that once belonged to a good friend of mine. After he died, his partner began sending me records, books, and some of his fly fishing gear. Now I'm getting newspaper clippings, cards, and bits and pieces of his books, chapbooks, and knick knacks. Perhaps if I create my own ceremony by placing everything I decide I don't need to keep in a small shoebox type container, I can let go of all this clutter in a respectful manner. Sort of a coffin type deal.
The landfill is hardly a good home, not exactly the ocean, but it serves the purpose. It's a letting go, a final farewell. If you are going to move on, you really have to move some of the trappings of a lifetime on as well.
It's also a good way to clear out some of the small boxes that I keep accumulating.
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