Deeply Rooted

What would you find if you unpacked your life?

We're moving to a new house in about six weeks, and today I dipped my toe into the "purge and pack" process. It started in the attic...a place I haven't set foot in since Christmas. It's dirty up there, with lots of ancient, powdery insulation creating a fine, dark-brown dust on most of the boxes that have lived there since I moved into this house almost six years ago. It was also HOT! Well over 100 degrees. Sweat poured off of me after about ten minutes in the heat. I was physically purging sweat as I got to work, determined to sort through and purge the contents of those boxes.

I noticed that much of what was up there was stuff I hadn't looked at or thought about in years. I'm typically someone who's pretty cut and dried about things like, "if I haven't worn it in a year, it gets donated. No question!" So I expected to haul down loads of "trash." And yet, and yet...lots of what I found today is stuff I'm not willing to let go of. It's like I unearthed some of my historical DNA.

There are photos.
And voice recordings.
And files.
And journals.
Plans for my childhood home.
Books from my childhood life.
And lots more that I could list but that probably wouldn't mean much to anyone but me.

I know I'm going to have to defend my choices to my dear one, the man who will be moving a lot of those still-heavy boxes. I know I'll have to justify wanting to keep things that will likely go straight into the storage space in our new home. But the thing is, today I reconnected with my roots, with that historical DNA that shapes the outlines of who I am and that fills in lots of the colors of me. Sure, I've added lots to the outlines and colors through the years and have expanded outside the lines, even. But today I brushed up against my touchstone. The ghosts of me and so many loved ones were swirling and whispering, reminding me that though every day I walk into the world afresh, looking at life anew, wondering what's next, I am forever deeply rooted in a past that I could no more purge than I could purge my own bones.

So, dear reader, what might you find if you unpacked your life?

Try it. You might be surprise what's waiting.