Carry it Around

I remember a friend of mine saying that as she worked through her issues in therapy, it was as if she was removing rocks from her pocket, one by one, and each time she unloaded one, she felt a little bit lighter. I can relate. The releasing I've been working on of late is definitely lightening my load.

A couple of weekends ago my kids and I went to Chicago to see a former babysitter and dear friend. Here we are at the beach at Navy Pier on the beautiful Saturday afternoon we enjoyed.

I post this photo here, with this song, because my daughter insisted on carrying a brick around in her backpack that she found while we were down there. Not surprisingly, the backpack got heavy for her, and she asked me to carry it on numerous occasions. I told her I'd carry the backpack but she'd have to get rid of the brick. "I'll carry the brick" she answered. And she did, through part of one day into the next. Just before we were leaving the city, we stopped to see a monument, and she set the brick down. I didn't remind her to pick it up again when we left, and she ended up leaving it there. I expected, at some point, the subject of the forgotten brick to come up, but it never did.

Yes my friends, the refrain to this song:

If you don't want it

Why would you carry it around?

...applies to both literal and figurative bricks alike.

Here's to putting both kinds down, leaving them behind, and moving forward without looking back. This may be particularly challenging for me this coming weekend when my kids and I head up to spend time with my family, but I'm feeling pretty prepared with all this healing work I've done lately.

Plus, I'm armed with some incredibly wise words from Walt Whitman:

Reexamine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.

I plan to do exactly that, and without carrying it around!