The (Good?) Old Days

There have been, and continue to be, occurrences/situations/what-have-you's, that involve people and situations from my "old" life. How to proceed? What's appropriate? What makes me comfortable/uncomfortable? What would/could/should make others uncomfortable?

I often in conversation, when people are talking about and reminiscing about things they've done in the past, the places they've gone and such, crazy things they've done, etc., clam up and decide that it's probably better for me to not participate. It almost seems inappropriate (and at least somewhat uncomfortable to me) to discuss a life, with lots of memories and friendships, that no longer exists. Or if I do decide to let slip a little bit of information, I keep it as general as possible all the while detailing the important bits.

Moving and the subsequent unpacking led me to discover two boxes of photos (and framed photos) of said past life. I hesitated, chewed on my nails, walked away from them, came back to them several hours later, looked at the boxes, chewed on my nails... Do I keep these? I mean, getting rid of them is almost like throwing away a piece of my life, whether it is a life that I'm living at this point. But keeping them is a somewhat painful reminder and, in doing so, I'm afraid that it'll be uncomfortable to people. Plus, explaining who these total strangers are to people who don't know is just another twist of the knife.

And just now I'm thinking, "Why are the pictures and conversations bothering you? You seem to encounter them somehow rather frequently on Facebook." No one is specifically interacting with ME, but these pictures and stories involve my experiences with my past.

I'm keeping the pictures, occasionally I paw through them (generally going through large chunks, taking my time with each one is just too much) but for the most part they stay stored and rarely looked at.

I'm also keeping the memories, there are some truly great ones. Maybe I'll journal them sometime. As far as sharing them, I'm not entirely sure how I feel. I guess it all just depends on the situation and how I feel and such.

It seems strange to be bothered by all of this, since I am so happy in my life now. And I hope that everyone that I knew has the same thing. As painful as it was, I believe that things happened the way that it was supposed to, for the best of each and every one of us.