cleansing

Since my brother came back, he's been cleaning out his room - the same room that I shoved all my storage in. Now that he's back, all of that storage was pushed back into my room, thus beginning my day-long cleaning ordeal. While sifting through boxes full of grade-school drawings, tests, and schoolwork was tiring, I nonetheless enjoyed my journey back in time.

Young Justin sleeping in the shinkansen. I used to be good at drawing...

3rd grade...

One of many Howard County sports I played. Who knows when this was...

Karate Do-gi patches, wrestling varsity patches, prom pictures

A complete mockery of an epic movie I made in middle school.

Senior week photos ... good times!

There's a copy of a U.S. history test I took back in middle school that was in my self-made "binder of excellence" that depicted our best work. That test isn't pictured, but it was quite hilarious. It was a fill-in-the-blank and I had gotten a number of questions wrong (which begs the question - why did I include that in my binder of excellence?). One of those questions I answered incorrectly read:

"The first people to came from Europe were _______, who later became property owners in the original American colonies."

My answer was "Rich White Men." Minus one point. My teacher must have been a white man.

While I don't remember who my teacher was, looking back on all this history, I felt like I remembered myself again. I once used to be good at drawing, and I received a number of recognitions for art, PE, and English. lol. Those things were small but, looking at it now, I appreciate how much my teachers and my family cared for me. Outside of those three subjects, I wasn't really that bright of a kid. I remember coming back home bringing back a 5th grade math exam with less than 50%. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but I fondly remember my parents becoming extremely concerned and making multiplication and division flash cards for me. 

Also spoke with Emiko yesterday and shared my thoughts on some of this stuff I found in these treasure chests. And I finally got to speak with an 08er without having to rush. That was really relaxing. 

I later threw out most of my old exams, etc, thinking that if I hold on to them now, I would never be able to throw them out. I also took the time to do the same for pictures and memories of relationships I've been stuck on for too long. I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and for her (and to purge myself of all this unjustified animosity) and to move on! That's not to say that I have forgotten about those memories or even that I want to, but that I've decided to embrace that experience for one of growth for everyone involved. I was chanting to find a way to overcome that negativity, and so it's funny how I had the opportunity to engage in these sorts of conspicuous acts of cleansing. Great feeling :)