The Weight of Old Soles

I spent an hour this morning clearing out the back of my closet. I found a pair of boots I haven’t worn in years. The leather is scuffed, and the heels are worn down at an angle that tells the story of how I used to walk when I was younger, more hurried, and perhaps a little more reckless. Holding them, I felt a strange, heavy tug of nostalgia. We tend to think of our things as just objects, but they are really just shells we’ve outgrown. They hold the shape of who we were before life shifted under our feet. It is funny how a simple item can act as a bridge to a version of yourself you barely recognize anymore. We leave pieces of our identity in the things we discard, like footprints left in the dust of a room we no longer inhabit. Do you ever look at your old things and wonder who that person was, and if they would even recognize you now?

Jessica Gershen has captured this feeling perfectly in her image titled First World Problems. It is a quiet, honest look at the things we leave behind. What do your own forgotten objects say about your journey?