There are bits and pieces of my childhood that are more vivid than others. One vivid memory was going to my mother’s work and her showing me her office. The only thing I remember about that is the glass bricks used in one of the walls. I remember staring at them in wonderment because that was the first time I saw glass bricks used aesthetically in that way. It is no surprise that I grew up to be an artist since of all the things in her office (she was a lead biochemist at her company), I noticed the glass bricks embedded in the wall.
Sometimes even to this day, I find myself staring at things other people would not even notice. Sometimes I stare at characters on a sheet to study the fonts. Or I’ll stop in front of a pile of rocks to examine the random shapes they make. Or I’ll stare at a tree smiling at the leaves and how they all blow independently in the wind. Everything in life is fascinating if you take a moment to just be where you are in that moment. It’s not just a tree you are walking by, it is a tree filled with thousands of leaves, and the mystery of life, a chain of biological wonders.
Sometime soon after I moved to Brooklyn, I was walking down the street in wonderment as I oft do. And I came across two large glass bricks. I immediately thought about my mother’s office and it brought back wistful memories. So I picked them up and carried them home. They are heavy, solid and beautiful. I didn’t think past that they were beautiful objects. So when I brought them home I didn’t quite know what to do with them. Over the years I ended up placing them in the corner of my bathroom because they’re solely decorative and have no functionality in my home. The only reason I kept them over the years is because of the memory from my youth.
So today on Day 322 of my 365 Release practice for non-attachment, letting go and change I am letting go of something I grew attached to because of nostalgia. It’s amusing how we keep figurative earmarks of our life through objects. Taking photos of everything I’ve released is a helpful reminder for something I am ready to release and now that digital photography is the standard I can keep thousands of photos without occupying physical space. The boxes of printed photographs I have from pre-digital times? That’s a different day.
[I created the 365 Release Project to practice non-attachment, letting go and change by giving away 1 thing a day for 1 year. The background, vision and guidelines to the 365 RELEASE project are here. The running list of everything I have released is here.]
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