What will you let go of is my topic for this latest post. It is inspired by Marcus Amaker, an American poet most famous for being the first poet laureate of Charleston, South Carolina. He has an impressive resume that ranges from poetry, operas, music, and graphic design. You can visit his website here.
A friend of mine gave me a copy of Marcus Amaker’s book, Hold What Makes You Whole. I finally opened up the book and started reading his work.
I found this poem of his buried midway in the book. It made me think about letting go of many things that I held dear that perhaps held me prisoner.
Eye Contact by Marcus Amaker
Throw something away
you thought you couldn't
live without. Turn its
memory-triggered touch
into trash. Remind yourself
You have outgrown the past.
Look the future in the eyes &
make it uncomfortable. Keep
diamond recollections on
your mind and wear a crown
then throw the crown away. There
are things you call holy that
are praying to be destroyed.
I’m not one for resolutions because they are easy to set and hard to keep in a shifting world. But letting go of baggage gets my attention.
When you hold on to treasure, there is always the risk that it turns into more than what it is. It is only after reading his poem several times, that I understand my tendency to put perhaps too much sentimental value on things that I have collected. They are relics of artificial importance, proverbial balls and chains to the past. As Marcus says, memory-triggered trash. They resist the temptation to be forgotten because that is where their power lies.
A U-Haul storage building in Milton, Florida waits for me
My sister in Florida has been the caretaker of the items I decided to keep from my life in California but chose not to bring to Europe.
Five years later, that storage location has cost me a small fortune. I could have replaced everything in there once or twice for what I have paid to maintain those things in a state of suspended sentimentality.
There was a part of me that held on to all of that stuff. I wanted to have something left in order to begin again. However, I also thought of those items as the last remaining elements of my life.
As the poem reminded us, many things I called holy were praying to be destroyed. I asked myself, “What will you let go?”
Over the last few weeks, I started to make mental lists of what am I holding onto for the sake of its memory.
When I think about those objects in that U-Haul storage container in Milton, Florida, part of me never wants to touch them again. They are beautiful relics of the past. They anchor me to something that was and can never return.
What will you let go?
With my sister’s encouragement, I decided I needed to find a home for many of those things. They could have served a purpose to someone all these years. Instead, they were wrapped in a box in a storage building in Milton, Florida.
When I’m anxious about the future, I grab onto one of my relics and cling to it to avoid the anxiety. For me, it’s always a temporary solution. But I know I’m most alive when I’m uncomfortable and unsure of what’s next.
So I ask you, what will you let go? Are you holding onto relics or anchors that limit your ability to run freely into what’s next in 2024 and perhaps scare the hell out of it and yourself?
Do you have a basement full of things that could be useful and valuable to someone else but instead draw out bitter-sweet parts of yourself when you see them? What will you let go?
Are there diamond crowns in your closet that you are afraid to throw away?
As I begin 2024, I want to believe that learning is a gift. The relic is only one page of the textbook. I no longer wish my relics to have power over me. I will pass them on to someone else who could use the lesson in 2024.
As always, the question remains, “What will you let go?”
Grateful for 2023 and hopeful for 2024.
I want to thank Marcus Amaker for the inspiration for this post. Thank you for being a gifted writer, Marcus.
I want to thank Ann for gifting me Amaker’s beautiful book.
Lastly, I thank you, my readers, and I wish you a wonderful 2024 full of amazing things that you could not have imagined for yourself!
Always with love,
Luke
I love this for a variety of reasons. I do set goals – not quite resolutions. But they are a burden if piled on previous ones that I’ve tried and failed at. Letting go of something – resolutions I have to acknowledge i will never do – is good to combine with future aspirations. I don’t know if your experience will be like mine, but having moved numerous times & leaving things stored/unpacked – I look through it all – wondering at times why I kept some things & being delighted at finding forgotten treasures! It’s a journey of a sort – rich in many ways. IMO you will be surprised at how far you have come. Cheers – Elinor
We know that it is all going to be fine. The Universe self-corrects and relics that are meant to stay will stay and relics that must live on will go when it’s time. You have my love and admiration always ! ❤️
Yes it is! It will be fine in the the terms that suit us..even though we always have an alternate plan. 😂😂. Thank you for talking me through the detachment of many wonderful but heavy relics. Love you see and admire you more than words can say.
This really resonated with me. We have a container back in NZ full of our combined ‘stuff’ from 13 years ago. It doesn’t ‘physically’ impact our life as the container is on a large commercial property that isn’t ours…so sort of out of sight out of mind. It doesn’t even cost us anything (only a dozen wine a year to the very good friend whose property it’s on).
We do have to occasionally navigate it (and have the obligatory argument haha, no seriously EVERY bloody time!) but we can easily lock it up again, and carry on with our lives and our travelling.
Over the years we’ve downgraded from a 40’ container to a navigable 20’ container so we have made process BUT it’s still there, and full of boxes we have never unpacked!
We’ve realised, although we’ve solved the problem of catering for the ‘physical clutter’, we hadn’t dealt with the ‘mental clutter’ of having that ‘stuff’. It would occasionally come up in conversation of course ….that we really needed to deal with it, but the time would come when we’d visit the dreaded container, as per usual do the bare minimum, make more of a mess in there, and close and lock the door, and forget about it!
Well until recently ! And we were ruthless. Made easier because we donated a lot of good stuff to the likes of the animal shelter and the Hope centre which help animals and people on Waiheke island. It was like a switch went off. And it was absolutely cathartic! The most wonderful freeing feeling. I think too the de-cluttering process helped us pack for our current backpacking adventure around South East Asia. For 6 months we have 11kg luggage each, literally in backpacks (no luggage wheels for us!). Just generally living more simply, and day to day. It’s a wonderful feeling ❤️
(Although I haven’t often commented on your posts, I always read them and am in complete admiration of your lifestyle. X)
I just adore seeing you in my comments, Vicki. Thank you for taking the time to share your and Lindsay’s story. Isn’t it crazy how we cart those things from each phase of our life to the next. Typically they end up somewhere stashed but how beautiful is that feeling when you see they are more useful to someone else now.
I am in complete admiration of you my dear friend. I hope our paths cross again soon! When your journeys take you into Italy.
And congratulations on
traveling with 11kgs. I can get five days out of a backpack. It’s Sofia 🐾🐾 that requires a bit more. 😂😂
Sending love to you both! Enjoy your Asian adventures!
Wow – I needed this! I’ve been slowly purging and it’s felt great, but this is the push I needed to go deeper! Do I really need my Girls Scouts mess kit? My kimono and clogs the I made in the 5th grade when we studied Japan? Seriously…that and other things are taking up storage space in the attic and you are right…let it go and let someone else use it and hopefully enjoy it! Mike will thank you for this! haha! The purge continues. 🙂 Cheers!
Wow & yes. We too are guilty hanging onto a storage unit. Oh and Happy 2024! So now of course this wonderful piece has got me thinking that we need to close the door on that unit thank you! I’m thinking we’re gonna do it. Thank you Luke for this inspiration. Be well and keep the journey going. 😘
Toni, we are all guilty of collecting and then storing. It’s a never-ending cycle. 😂😂. Thank you for your kind comments. We have mobile lives, it’s kind of nice knowing you have a stash of things until you realize it’s just a stash of things. 😱 I am glad you found inspiration. Keep me posted on your progress. See you soon in the new year. 🤗😘
Happy New Year! And aother terrific post, so timely! Yes, I have my old life in a container for more than a decade. But…I am now in Bali on my first long haul trip since 2019, with just a backpack – and even that feels too much! (For your darling Sofia, I read my tech needs as I am recording and have so many cables!) Great to read others’ responses. Thank you for introducing us to that poem and, as ever for your wisdom and insight. Wishing you all good things (light ones!) love xx
Thank you my dear friend! Bali! Stupendous!! I imagine you are having a fabulous time. A life lived from a backpack is a beautiful thing.
I just lived that poem and thought of our many conversations about detaching from all this we collected. What a great memory.
Sofia and I wish you a wonderful stay in Bali. Be well and we will connect soon! 🤗🐾