Letting go of the past, digitally
I really struggled with deleting past tweets, posts and photos from my Social accounts today.
For those of you who can simply press delete, and have no second thoughts or hesitations at all, that's great, and I'm really happy to know that. I thought I was like that too but I was so very wrong! :) Over the past few years, with physical items, I have gone from "I can't throw that out; what if I need it someday?" to "If I haven't used / worn / touched / noticed it within the past year, I don't think I need it", and have then thrown it out or given it to someone who needs it. Done. Simples.
Today, I wanted to clean up my social accounts. Get rid of any embarassing, unsuitable, or non-existent relationship posts. I'm good at throwing physical things away. So, why is it then, that today I found myself staring and hovering, and finding it so hard to delete and confirm past tweets, photos and posts?
For me, it was a combination of many things and on many levels. Firstly, deleting messages and photos from past friends, loved ones, acquaintences felt like deleting my own past. "What if I lose all proof that I ever said or did that?", "What if all evidence that the relationship ever happened disappears?", "What if I forget about them?", "What if by deleting everything, THEY forget about me?"
Well, to be honest (with myself). They probably have. Then again, they might not have, but we'll never know. That's just the ego talking, and that's something to discuss another day. But.... all I know right now is, in this moment of my life, I don't need them and I don't think I will again. So, goodbye. Delete.
How did I even reach that conclusion though? I basically asked myself, as much as this hurts, and it's sad, and you don't want to let go, and the memories were great, and happy and fun....... have you needed any of these images or posts over the past years? Looking at these posts now, do they fill you with joy? Motivate you? Inspire you? Or are they just causing you to dwell, to stop, to become stuck in the mental past (even if they were slightly happy). Are the images helping you move on? Helping you become something greater than yesterday? I found myself saying no to nearly all of them. They weren't helping and they weren't bringing any new or positive energy into my life. So, why keep them?
I'm not saying they weren't ever happy or good memories, and at the time, those events were important and inspiring. But right now, they have no place i what I want, and what I am doing, and if I just stop and dwell on the memories, without even getting any joy from them, then it's not worth keeping.
In my life, I only want people, experiences, memories, things, tweets and photos which make me feel happy, motivate me, push me forward, make me feel warm inside or at the very least make me smile. If they don't then they're draining your mental energy and even your time just by pondering on them.
Let them go. I've not had a need for them in years, and just because I have found them, doesn't mean I need them. I even forgot they existed until I saw them. Having deleted everything I don't need, I feel like I've made space for NEW and exciting things to come into my life. They already are, I just need to constantly remind myself, and feel grateful for everyone and everything in my life now, rather than miss the past.
Looking at my social "stuff" now, I feel much happier. "Oh, that was fun!", "Hey, I gotta call that person", "Oh, I wanna go there again! I've got to make that happen again." :) That's how those tweets and posts and photos should make me feel.
Now they do, and I can say I feel much lighter and ready to receive again. So, the reason why this blog post is so long, is because once I end this post, I will officially have deleted uwanted social items, and even my thoughts and writing about deleting them. So, here goes.
Hello new experiences and posts. Good bye deleted tweets and pics. Do you really want to let the past go? Confirm? Yes.
