I was going through my annual decluttering and came across my high school senior yearbook. This time, instead of just putting it back in the box I looked through it.

I was in yearbook class and designed the cover, title pages, and most of the page layouts.  I didn’t know it at the time but that was the start of my 25-year career in graphic arts and publishing. So maybe I kept hanging onto it because it was part of my history  — a point of pride.

This time, as I looked over each page, I began to pay attention to my feelings.  I found I wasn’t proud, nor was I getting warm fuzzies looking at the pictures. I kept getting a ho-hum, detached feeling like it was some other lifetime. I couldn’t even remember the names or faces of my classmates. After I graduated, I lost touch with the people who had been my close friends and I have not gone to any of the reunions.

By the time I had looked through half of the yearbook, I knew it was time. It was time to let go of what had been a precious keepsake. It no longer was part of my life.

Letting go of things that cause unpleasant feelings or even indifference allows us to make space to experience the “now.” It frees us from the past. It enables us to embrace the people we might become.

If you help releasing the past, contact Vickie Champion for a discovery coaching and consulting session.

By Vickie Champion