One of the most difficult things about moving forward can be letting go. There's the things you are happy to get rid off that you leave in the past with ease, there's the new things your excited and eager to get to that take up most of your thoughts for a while, and then there's the small things you hadn't even realised you were clinging to; the habits and routine, people and places; things you feel you shouldn't want to give up, things that mean there's no going back.
I think sometimes truly letting go can feel like you're devaluing what previously mattered. If you leave something behind, close the door completely, then what was the point of all that time, that work, that effort, those feelings, those values? Change can be tricky when it's spotted with flashes of the past, memories you always want to keep, and moments where you realise the door has been locked and some things will never be quite the same.
Then today I read "In many ways, closure is an opening up, another part of the
journey toward authentic existence that points toward the future, incorporates
the past, and validates the present level of feeling"(Landy, 1994, p.134). I guess there's never such a clear cut off between something you have and then something you let go off. The past will always matter; it'll steer you now and imprint on your future. Letting go transports you forward but the importance of the past doesn't disappear as without it you wouldn't have got anywhere.
Landy, R (1994) Structuring a session In Dramatherapy,
concepts, theories and practice, ed. Landy, R Springfield,Il, USA, Charles
C. Thomas
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