I’m a bit of a sentimental old fool.
I love knickknacks and postcards and photos from years past.
They’re relics of a fleeting moment; they make up the personal museum of my life.
So, sometimes it can be hard to just let. things. go.
You know?
And while this is certainly true of our physical possessions, (Do I really need all seven tee shirts from my days of working at the ice cream shoppe?) I find it even more difficult to let go of my emotional baggage. (I hate that term. Baggage. Surely as a writer I can come up with a better metaphor. But oh well. We’ll leave that for another day.)
I’m a Stephen King fan.
There is still a lot I haven’t read (like The Dark Tower series. Yep. Go ahead and judge.) but he’s my favorite author. Reading his work is like coming home from a long trip to find your house sparkling clean, fresh sheets on the bed and a gentle breeze at the window.
He knows what he’s doing.
I mention this because I recently donated some paperbacks to my local Good Will.
And it was hard, yo. I had some second thoughts.
Because while I’ve read these–and most likely won’t again–they were a part of me.
They were relics, dear friends.
I was in high school when I found these, fifty cents each at The Salvation Army. My adolescent fingers turned those pages, and felt the power of fiction. I realized how much I love reading (and writing) through the hours and hours I spent with these stories.
Dreamcatcher, my favorite of the bunch, accidentally took a dip in The Atlantic Ocean when a rogue wave lapped it from my beach chair. Having finished 800 pages or so, and therefore panicking, I jumped in after it.
We’d been through too damn much together.
And after setting the sopping volume in the sun for awhile, its pages crinkly from salt water and sea air, I carried on with the story.
But now, years later with a different life and a shelf filled with new tales to discover, I find I have no need for these. They’re book trophies.
In fact, it felt selfish to hold them captive.
They have a lot of life left to give, to someone new.
Time to pay it forward. May many more readers enjoy the journey that awaits.
. . .
What do you need to let go of, Dear Reader? How can we embrace the beauty of moving forward?
SnapDragon identifies as an educator, artist, and certified badass.
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