Boxing Up Old Relationships

By Ryan Wallace
For most of us, the summer season signals a time of change. Struggling through finals and the pressures of our lives, it’s difficult to break apart in the middle of the school year and actually deal with the life that surrounds us—and summer provides us with the time we need.

This year has brought me, as I’m sure most of us, some of the most life-changing experiences. From shattering my cynical shell with love, to throwing me right back in after having my heart broken, I tried my best to cope with balancing my life and school… both of which suffered because of my heart. But it wasn’t until yesterday that my mind finally had time to catch up to everything that has happened.

It started as some belated Spring cleaning, trying to actually make my room into a liveable/workable space, but quickly it became me shoving my life into boxes. A box for books, a box for clothes, then a box for fallen friends, and a box for broken hearts… I suddenly realized that in cleaning my room I was cleaning up the e
motions of a year that has forever changed me.

And this chore of consolidating every memory into boxes began to make me think of my life and everyone I have allowed in it. With my cynicism poking through, I can say that every relationship has an expiration date, rather by decision or fate, but nothing lasts forever. And what are we left with?! A box of trinkets and photos that you can no longer bear to look at!

            It’s something that happens with life, I realized, whether with a breakup or packing up the belongings of a fallen loved one. But it is not something to mourn or get hurt over, because like you can’t stop death you can’t stop love, or life.So moving through these days in life warrant their own style— box things up and keep the best memories without the worst. All relationships have their ups and downs(those that can make our hearts beat fastest can also break them just as fast) but there’s no point dwelling on things that cannot be changed, or more likely should be left unchanged.

 Though they say you shouldn’t box up your emotions, memories belong on a shelf. Their place there assure you that you can grab them in time and cherish their significance, but where they won’t consume you during the schoolyear. This Fall brings new courses, new living situations, and with it new friends & feelings, so there is no room for old baggage if you want to gain new experiences. So take the time to clean up the remnants of last year and clear out what’s left to be resolved, because without those boxes on the shelf you’ll find your life like your room—a cluttery mess.