How Do You Treasure the Past?

Louis XV Candelabra Pair, Treasure or Trouble?

I spent the weekend in Los Angeles with my sister, my long-lost cousin and her family (we hadn’t seen each other since we were kids). The experience gave me an intriguing perspective on the past and my own relationship with it. It was interesting to fill in details of my Grandparents, Parents, Aunt, Uncle and cousins (we all three had different versions of some of the same stories). We patted a few details into place and then focused most of our energy and excitement on what our lives were like right now and how we saw our futures.

It really got me thinking  about the idea of saving and preserving the past. (FYI: My cousin DID NOT run to the attic to dig out Grandma’s candlesticks to show us, if she has any THINGS from those days, it did not come up at all.) We were connecting, and enjoying each other and the “stuff” of it was completely irrelevant.

I realize everyone has their own relationship to the past involving memories and stories that they deem “good” or “bad”. But what about the THINGS from the past? How does this fit into our lives as we move forward? Do these THINGS also represent our future selves?

I am going to go WAY out on a limb and theorize that if we really, really sat with the things that we consider mementos from the past that very few of them would be treasures. And what we treasure are the moments of connection and the moments of love.

Try this experiment for yourself: Go find one of these items, oh yes, I know you have them somewhere, a tray from Grandma, an old set of china from your Mother, jewelry passed down from your ancestors. Just pick one thing. Hold it in your hands, close your eyes and breathe. Does this item lift your energy or does it take you down? Do you smile? Does it lift your spirits? Or do you take a dive, feel uncomfortable, burdened, or weighed down in some way? Does your brain start making up stories to trick you into keeping it, such as, “It was a gift...I inherited it... I should keep it…”  When our brain starts telling us reasons like these it is a good indication that we are not really happy about hanging on. Listen to your gut and your heart instead.

Everything in our possession matters (every lace tablecloth, every relish tray and every single photo.) And everything either lifts our spirits or it doesn’t. If you can’t decide, leave this item out for a week and notice what happens to you every time you pass it.

Keeping only the real treasures from the past, the ones that lift our chi and warm our hearts are the ones worth keeping. We do NOT have to keep everything! The practice of editing possessions based on how they make us feel will yield amazing results.

Watch for it to affect your health, wealth and relationships!

If you’d like some support editing your items so that you can step more lightly and assuredly into your future, I would LOVE to guide you through the process.

Looking forward to hearing how this goes for you…leave your comments on the blog (below), that’s where the fun is!

Until next week,

Love,
Jane