I have not one, but two (actually, technically, I have three but that’s another story) storage units. One of them I’ve had for almost 8 years.
Here’s what’s in them…a bunch of shit that I don’t want to deal with.
It occurred to me that we treat ourselves like forgotten storage.
We hold on to the hurts, the stories, the incidents, the accidents.
We stuff as much as we can. Shoving in until we can barely roll down the door.
Boxes full of shit.
Furniture that’ll have a use “someday….when I….”
Broken lawn equipment. Old golf clubs.
Photos we don’t want to look at but can’t bear to throw away.
Napkins inscribed with the wedding date, stuffed animals we cuddled when we were 6 years old, an old tent waiting for the camping trip that’ll never happen.
All of these things tug at us in some way – so we store them. Put them in a safe place. Under lock and key.
This is what we do with the abuse. The anger. The resentments.
The jealousy. The fear. The childhood neglect.
The trauma. The rage. The sadness. The disappointment.
The regrets. The guilt. The shame. The blame. The self-hate.
We sign a contract, stuff them in a climate controlled room under lock and key and pay the monthly fee.
The price of the unit is high.
The price is our freedom.
Because, as David Hawkins states, “emotions emit a vibrational energy field, they affect and determine the people who are in our lives.”
The basic rule of the universe is: like attracts like.
Anger attracts angry thoughts.
Love promotes love.
Let go of the inner negativity and set yourself free. End the contract. Move out. Give the shit to Storage Wars.
And, you say…
But….he raped me.
But…she took all of my money.
But…he beat me. They died. The cancer. The financial crisis.
Yes. Those horrible things. Horrible, heartbreaking things.
But that stuff, in the storage unit, is in limbo. It sits, waiting for attention. Neither accepted nor released.
Stop making payments. Accept it. It’s a part of you.
Then, let it go. Release.
For most of us, acknowledgment and release is a lifelong activity.
There’s no single purification event for trauma.
But, there’s no cost to release.
The cost is in storage.
Be epic.
Love,
Amy, Founder Wisdom Ridge Ranch
Hi Amy, Thank you for this piece. For me it’s not so much the “what happened to me” as the coping mechanisms that took over that carry on to this day. The voices in my head that I internalized in childhood that are so hard to quiet or to let out back into the Universe. Yes, the cost is in storage. Your piece inspires me to find a way to let go of all that storage, and as you say, be epic.
Thank you Audrey. Give those voices an outlet…like a daily journaling practice. xo Amy
Thank you, Amy. I do try to write each day to, as you say,
give those voices an outlet. That is exactly what they need.
🙂 xo
Yes yes too true…powerfully true
Thank you Merritt, I’m so glad the blog resonated with you.