Bracelet/Shackle
A few years ago The Muse gave me a bracelet. I don't wear it very often, but even long after we broke up, I couldn't bring myself to throw it out. Whenever I wore it (even in recent times), I would think of her as soon as I pulled it out of the drawer and put it on. Without fail, she would come to mind the moment I touched it and I'd flash back to the exact moment she handed it to me: the way she looked, smelled, and felt standing in front of me in her bedroom. Without fail.
Until this morning.
I put it on without any thought other than it would look good with the shirt I was wearing. And then, when I took it off this afternoon, it hit me. I hadn't gone through the whole instant flashback or ran the gamut of emotion in 30 seconds like I normally do. I wondered, as I pulled it off, if that meant that I was finally free from that particular emotional tie. I realize that wearing the tokens of another lover can be asking for trouble, especially when that relationship was such an emotional time bomb in your life. But, I like that it reminds me of her. It reminds me of the good times, not the bad times. And there were good times. Thus, I hold no malice towards her and am, in a sense, liberated from that kind of shackle.
I think I like that bracelet even more now. What a strange (and wonderful) feeling.
Until this morning.
I put it on without any thought other than it would look good with the shirt I was wearing. And then, when I took it off this afternoon, it hit me. I hadn't gone through the whole instant flashback or ran the gamut of emotion in 30 seconds like I normally do. I wondered, as I pulled it off, if that meant that I was finally free from that particular emotional tie. I realize that wearing the tokens of another lover can be asking for trouble, especially when that relationship was such an emotional time bomb in your life. But, I like that it reminds me of her. It reminds me of the good times, not the bad times. And there were good times. Thus, I hold no malice towards her and am, in a sense, liberated from that kind of shackle.
I think I like that bracelet even more now. What a strange (and wonderful) feeling.