Recycling the past

I recycled my television and VCR last week.

It was time. The television set that my wife and I had inherited from a previous tenant of our apartment was getting cranky. It had the annoying habit of "buzzing" along to any program we happened to be watching. Some people have stereo surround sound--we had an unbelievably grating "buzzzzzzzzzzzz." I finally buckled and bought my first television ever. It works very nicely, although I have to admit that it hasn't yet improved the quality of the programming that apears on the TV. Hm. Oh, well.

Anyway, the issue was what to do with the old TV and broken VCR. I searched online and found that I can't throw them away--not allowed under city laws because of the toxins inside the machinery. They must be recycled. It just so happened that there was a free electronics recycling event in Brooklyn, so I hopped in a cab and delivered them to Carroll Gardens. There, happy volunteers plucked them out of the trunk, scurried them away to a large shipping container, and just like that, I was free of these old hunks of garbage!

It made me wonder what happens to all of the old, toxic garbage in my own life. What happens to all of the stuff that I've lived through--the memories, the experiences, the mental junk that piles up from the process of living? What do I do with old mental garbage?

For most of us, this stuff piles up in the hidden corners of our lives. We put it away in the most convenient out-of-the-way place... but we don't always "get rid of it." Over time, if we pile up enough garbage, it begins to change how we live in the present. Oops--just bumped my toe against that old break-up. Darn! Just tripped over the college I couldn't get into. Hey! Who left that dream that I had about being famous right here in the middle of the floor!?

You get the picture.

The hum-drum process of getting rid of the useless hunks of junk of the past that clutter and confuse our present needs to be part of our daily routine. It takes work--intentional work. You have to be willing to talk about your past hurts or disappointments and to let them go when the time is right. Being honest with your friends can be a great way to do this--talking to someone who will just listen. If they're any kind of friend, they'll know what you're going through. Therapy can be useful. Prayers of letting go always help. Taking stock of our lives regularly (not just once a year)--doing an inventory of our mental and emotional closets is ESSENTIAL. If you know what you have, you know what to keep that is useful and what to throw away that has lost its usefulness.

I don't love my new television set any more than the last one. It hasn't changed my life or made watching E! any richer or more rewarding. But I like that it doesn't buzz--it works better for me where I am now. And I love that the old one is out of my life for good, and in a "better place." May it rest in peace.