I have decided to tidy my memory box. Every time I make a memory, a small part of that day goes into the box. I started by categorizing the items in the box into cards, ticket stubs/plays, photos and miscellaneous. As I was sorting it, instantly in my mind, I saw things I wanted to get rid of, things that I had left at the bottom on the box, forgotten. I realized I had 28 cards, 16 ticket stubs, 2 signed plays, 84 pictures and 18 miscellaneous.

The cards were either birthday cards from my staff or my sorority that I didn’t want to part with. The ticket stubs ranged from movie dates with my boyfriend as we started dating to movies I went with friends. I understand that I could throw these out because I don’t need them. They bought me joy when I went all those years ago but now it’s just paper that reminded me of those great times. Looking at the two play books, the Dear Evan Hansen was signed by the original cast and Hamilton was an amazing experience, both adventures that my brother took me on. I decided to follow KonMari’s idea of ripping the page that was most important, so that’s what I did. I ripped out the front cover and tossed the rest. The photos were mostly of my best friend and I from years ago, which I realized that I don’t need anymore. Those memories will forever be with me and I don’t need physical photos to prove that. There’s also pictures of my boyfriend and I in the beginning of our relationship along with photos of my sorority when I first joined. A lot of memories in that box, but also many forgotten memories. There was also a few photos from high school and I still love those people so I might keep a few of those. The miscellaneous can probably all go, a lot of it was things I have collected from camp as a counselor, things that remind me of my future and why I chose the path I did. I also realized a lot of the miscellaneous things were origami that my camp kids made for me as a goodbye gift and I treasured those in that moment, but now I realized it’s just clutter.

Starting with the miscellaneous pile, I threw out everything but the origami rose and white flower corsage that were given to me by the two most important people in my life right now, my boyfriend and my sorority girls. Holding both in my hand, definitely brought me joy. Next, I moved onto the ticket stubs, which was hard. Each ticket stub had its own story, whether it was with friends or significant others. I realized that I had only gone to amazing movies like Deadpool, Crazy Rich Asians, Coco, Ocean 8 etc. In the end, I realized I don’t need these tiny stubs to remind me of the great films I have seen. I decided I will keep only three tickets: one from the American Museum of Natural History, one from a Lindsey Stirling concert and the last one was from the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. All three experiences were amazing and I would like to keep mementos of them. Maybe one day they will be discarded, but for now, they mean a lot to me.

Next, I went through the photos and put all the old ones in one photo packet and some of the recent ones in the other packet and left the most important ones on the surface. I realized that there were so many changes in my lifeas I got older. I lost and gain friends and those that I lost, their photos have been stored away. Eventually, those photos will be thrown out but at this moment, I’m just going to put them out of sight. Last but not least, I saved the cards for last because I knew they were going to be the most difficult ones for me to look through. These handmade cards have stories of their own given to me by the people in my life. I would hate to see any of it go but I understand that I need to clear some of it out. As I went through it, I decided to throw out anything that was written to me by my camp kids, such as scribbles of their names and thank you notes. I decided to keep only those that I could read and had an impact on me when I thought about it. There was one card written by one of my favorite kids and the minute I opened it, a smile appeared on my face and in my mind, I saw her face. It’s amazing what a memento like this one could do to someone’s emotions. The question now is, is it worth keeping? I also came across a birthday card I was suppose to give a friend of mine but then we grew apart. Holding that card in my hand gave me a feeling of sadness but sometimes things like that, are meant to happen in your life because better things are coming your way.

Overall, I feel like I have cleared out a lot, but I also notice that there are a few things I still hold onto and that’s okay. Going through my old stuff was a great way of going down memory lane, but it also helped me understand what I need or don’t need. In the end, I had 15 cards, 3 ticket stubs, 2 play covers, 2 miscellaneous and 6 photos. My memory box is so much lighter. Even though I threw out a lot, there were still objects that hold meaning for me. Objects will always hold meaning to its owner because together they went through an experience that they don’t want to forget.