It is said that we need to let go of the past in order to move forward with our lives, and make those lives authentically our own.

Often, we think we are managing to do just that really well... but sometimes that "past" manifests in subtle and even sneaky ways we are not aware of... but those ways are just as capable of keeping us stuck as the more obvious in-your-face reminders.

Towards new horizons...

I spent much of today listing a variety of "stuff" from our home for sale on eBay.

Mrs. Denmarkguy and I are in the ongoing process of trying to dig out from under a load of seemingly pervasive financial setbacks... as we have been for a couple of years. It has been more than "a couple of years," as our woes started with medical bills in 2011... life in America, even when you have good health insurance.

Part of "the Road out" consists now of selling a number of old family treasures and hand-downs we have had around the house for many years. We have kept many of these things around because of this thing we humans like to call "tradition" and family history. Not saying there isn't value to that, mind you...

Mountains in the sun...

But sometimes we have to stop and ask ourselves why exactly we choose to be the perpetual custodians of items we neither like all that much nor care about, in a historic or nostalgic sense. We hold on to these "treasures" from past generations that our kids — most likely — would end up selling in a garage sale for a few bucks, once we're gone...

Who does that honor?

Better, then, to just sell them NOW to someone who cares more, and who has at least a minimal interest in the history... and potentially end some financial hardship in the process.

Often, such setting free of old stuff also clears a mental and psychological space... we no longer need to store old "inner voices" that talk to us and cast self-doubt and guilt with words like "what would the ancestors think?"

Spring flowers...

In my own case, there ARE no following generations to pass the items and stories on to... I am the last of my family; "our" kids are really Mrs. Denmarkguy's from her prior marriage... and even though they are as much "mine" as they can be, the historical connection and links to these items' roots simply isn't there...

And so, the reality of the situation is that I'd rather pay our property taxes and keep our home instead of clinging to some old paintings and artifacts collected by someone else — in a style that is not ours — all in the name of a "history" that ends with my own death...

Does that mean "not caring" and "not honoring" our forebears?

Ultimately, I'd like to think not... and I am also comforted in my decision because what I do remember about those ancestors is that they tended to be pragmatists. And in the end? The best things in life tend not to be "things," but rather the memories we carry with us.

Thanks for reading!

(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)

How about YOU? What are your feelings about "old hand downs?" Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 20200120 00:33 PST
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