So what’s inside an attic of a house? --Plenty of material stuff, old stuff, right? Things such as those you won’t part with but which you should, stuff that’s hard to get rid of because nobody else wants it, bits and pieces which piled up through one indecision after another, and relics which you’d rather be without but are not free to dispose of. Perhaps many more according to what a person considers I can, I won’t, I must -- disjointed memories in most of that.
It’s the same thing with the attic of the mind. We put in a lot in there both good and bad. It’s all about memories, feelings, experiences, insights, biases, prejudices, some fears, expectations. It’s a place where we store all that we wished didn’t have to happen and those which did happen but ended up not the way we had hoped for… and too some dreams hidden away albeit indefinitely but waiting to be retrieved at some opportune time.
Like a house attic we go back to it again and again but not always with the intent to do some cleaning up or clearing out because sometimes the timing isn’t just quite right. Strange as it may seem but it’s just having the feeling of wanting to be there and immerse oneself with what has gone by. It’s like watching a rerun of an old movie --your life. Flashbacks is what they call it. When it comes to you from a certain time or moment in the past, you may feel a twinge of sadness regret or remorse realizing you failed in doing the right thing as you see it now replayed for you. That’s what it holds mostly -- the ifs –buts – perhaps – should haves – the might-have-done-this-and-not-that.
Oh but there are the good stuff too -- those times which gave you so much joy, anticipation, happiness, fulfillment, immense satisfaction. But it does not make the mind attic its home for long. Because it’s always taken out of there and relived repeatedly or passed on to another sharing the same excitement and thrill. The good times roll back and forth in people’s minds and hearts; it never rests. It never is allowed to stand still.
Unlike a house attic though where often you can throw away stuff if you are truly hell-bent on doing so, that is after maybe a heated argument with someone who claims its ownership, ---you can never throw away stuff in your mind attic. It’s stuck with you and you’re stuck with it. Why? - Because everything in there is you. It’s all tied up to who you are, what you are, and what you could be. It’s you groping for explanations or reasons, chasing answers, challenging questions, or simply being stupid or foolish. You either move back or move forward with it. Or you could just be stuck there where you find yourself battling your inner demons hidden somewhere in its deep dark crevices for God-knows-how-long.
Attics have their uses. The mind attic particularly in great measure because within its walls you knowingly or unknowingly are repeatedly being renewed, shaped, molded, and reborn. And if your attic is right you’d come out of it feeling quite bold and brave.
So then open the windows of your mind attic, let in fresh air to clear the fozzies in your brain and let the light in to enable you to see clearly what darkness has hidden from you. Mind attics will and can serve you better when it is allowed to do its job. Unlike a house attic it does not have to gather dust….. if you won’t let it.
