And then, of course, there’s the other side too. The one I only subtly hinted last time.
I’m still in the middle of tidying up here, and it’s likely that this task will keep me busy for another week or longer. In the meantime I’ve divided a large basket of books among several “free book exchange shelves” around my home and some more at an “open bookcase” in my favourite coffeehouse in Linz.
Of course I have unearthed many more, new and surprising “trails of breadcrumbs” (of course just metaphorically speaking), each a more or less intense journey back into the past 40 or so years of my life. Whereas I focused in my last blogpost on how it is for me to let go or release this or that relict of my past I want to put the emphasis of my this week’s blogpost on the opposite principle, the, so to say, other side of the coin: the realization of how important it is to not let go of certain things, to keep them and to care for them more than ever before.
One prime example of what I mean is the surprising rediscovery of a tiny box full of old and beloved children’s and youth audio dramas. I’m genuinely curious whether something like this ever existed in the United States or if it’s just one of those quirky trends that inexplicably only emerged in German-speaking countries. Whether it’s acoustic adventures about and with Enid Blyton’s Five Friends, spooky audio dramas, fairy tales, or – as pictured above – the Three Investigators – it’s that I, my sister and apparently many other children of our age “devoured” these recordings.
Now, so many years later, I’m beginning to realize just how much this media format shaped me in hindsight. A two-sided cassette tape, with its ominous (yet timelessly expressive) cover art, could unlock 2×30 minutes of pure imagination through my then young ears, opening up entirely new worlds through sound alone.
Once again I find it almost impossible to put the feelings I had when I stumbled upon that box of old audio dramas in words. It’s like seeing an old childhood friend for the first time in decades again, only to realize that nothing about him or her has changed ever since. With just the push of a button, you could relive the same joy you had about 35 years ago. Happiness, nostalgia, excitement, awe – the usual emotional lineup for sentimental souls like me.
So this time it isn’t just about letting go and forgetting. It’s equally about remembering and holding on. Tidying up and reminiscing, like life itself, is rarely a straight path or a straight story. Even here that process can and maybe should meander. I find it wonderful not to act according to rigid rules. Every breadcrumb matters and deserves its place and attention. Marie Kondo would likely nod and laugh in agreement. In the end, it’s also about valuing things, recognizing their personal significance, honoring them as kind-hearted messengers of and to the past, and, ultimately: about keeping them, with double the care.