Spring cleaning...of the soul

Last week I did my Spring cleaning. What an undertaking that was. I had slowly started to move toward the "less is more" every time I went through my stuff but I guess I was still holding on to way too much. This time I went at it deciding to clear as much as possible. Little did I know that by clearing space in my room, I was getting rid of some emotional bagage as well. I know that I tend to "oversave". Not that long ago I still had every piece of document gathered since I moved to the States in 1991. Every credit card receipt; every bank statement; every bill.... Imagine how many boxes that represents. Boxes filled with the accounts of my life for the past 18 years. Finally I let go of most of it, keeping only financial documents for the last 7 years in case of an audit from the IRS.
Going through the mountain of paper I wondered if one can really move on while holding on to the past so tightly? Of course I am not talking about bank statements anymore. But if I can hold on to those for 18 years you can be sure that more personal matters where simply put in the time capsule waiting to be unearthed again. I found things I forgot I had, others I knew I had but not seen in years. I truly never went through them every so often and reminisce. The fact that I kept them in the first place, must say a lot though.
Going through each piece of mail, note, photo, did not make me sad or wish upon times past. I was just amazed at how much I had kept over the years. I am sure love letters would be useful to whoever would be writing my memoirs after I'm gone....highly unlikely; so to the trash they go.
As the trash bags got fuller, I felt lighter. I think unconsciously hanging on to so much was not just space used but also emotional weight carried.
Don't I trust my memory? Do I really need to save everything and record each event in my life? I used to treat my calendar like a journal. I kept track of every phone call I made, each e-mail I sent, all the people I talked to and places I went. Truly who needs such a detailed picture of one's day? I thought I did. Maybe I am afraid that my memory will fail me more and more as I get older. Well if it does I am sure that life will go on. My friend Lyle says that holding on too tightly to the past is like driving a car while only looking in the rearview mirror. That is definitely not how I want to live my life. The view is too beautiful ahead.