My Wooden Box

I have always wanted to sort out the stuff I have been collecting for years but unfortunately, I do not have the time to do so because of my tight schedule. But then after my brother's death, I felt the urge to sit down and finally dig my stash of old (and mostly damaged) photographs and later leads me to dig out some more including my unused lipstick and accessories, old letters and cards from friends, half-filled journals, college test paper and class cards, souvenirs from birthdays and weddings, tickets from memorable trips and a lot more.

It would have been easy to sort things out if only they were placed in a certain area such as a huge photo album for the photographs and a glass cabinet for collectibles. But since I move a lot or rather, I lived in various homes (our house, my aunt's, boarding house, dorm), I find it difficult to organize all my stuff.

Seeing my old stuff again made me reminisce the past, be it happy or sad. It made me remember various people who once became part of my life, people who helped me get through the day by giving me a piece of paper torn out from a notebook with inspiring words written in it, people who failed me (talking about grades), and people who made a difference in my life by doing something they are not even aware of. Those things are witnesses of what my life was before... those things are part of the memories of my past... especially with my recently departed brother.

Unfortunately, because of my desire to move on in life and get over the loss of my brother, I burned some of them even if some of the things I burned have nothing to do with him. Seeing them slowly disappear as they turned into ashes made me feel like my sadness is also disappearing with them. My only regret for doing so is that, I should have taken pictures before finally throwing them into the fire my mother made.

Right now, I am working to organize my memories... old photographs in a wooden photo organizer and collectibles in a wooden cabinet thus the title "My Wooden Box". Things such as happiness, sadness and lessons learned are stored in a sturdier storage called heart and mind.

(I will also start a blog with the same title and subject.)