Prompt: Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

Loss has been a theme of this year, and a good deal of it is something that for the most part I didn't choose and don't care to revisit. At least not yet. Sometimes, the things you have to let go are things that you weren't ready to lose.

However, depending on what, or whom, and the circumstances and history of the matter, the act of letting go can be liberating. Just as animals shed their winter coats at the start of spring, and a snake sloughs its skin to allow for growth, so sometimes it's necessary to shake off the past, people, habits or material things that have outstayed their welcome, or are holding us back.

That's the theory, anyway. I do confess I'm not really very good at letting things go. I'm an archivist by nature, and tend to clutter my life with baggage and stuff. But this year, I had to finally accept it was time to cut some old ties and move on from a work situation that had stagnated and was stifling me. I admit that I had help making the decision. My hand got forced by events outside my control - global economic events got real personal, like they did for so many others this year - otherwise even now I might still be making excuses for clinging on like a limpet. It will be okay, I'm sure it will be.

On a more mundane level, I finally persuaded myself to take all the VHS tapes of my favourite films to the charity shop, since I'm never likely to ever get a machine that can play them again. In fact, I haven't had such a machine for well over two years..... See what I mean about holding on to clutter? I just hope I don't regret it! When I moved here, I reluctantly got rid of all my lovely old vinyl records because I no longer had a turntable, and I'm still kicking myself and cursing about it now.

We only have so much space in our lives. If we don't let the dead wood go, how can we ever find room for the new branches to grow? Now if only I could persuade myself to put that into practise more often... *grin*