Exposure Therapy

Ever since I was a child, my greatest OCD (actual OCD) fear was that the house would burn down destroying all my stuff, especially all my journals, thereby incinerating the very moments and memories that had created my life. Well today I’m here to write a letter to myself in case that very thing happens. I’m not sure if this counts as exposure therapy but it just struck me as a good idea.

Dear Post-Fire Catherine,

You think you just lost everything. Judge not something by its permanence. You’ve created too many beautiful things to be sad. I know you felt you built an empire of memories. That does not go away simply because some papers burned. They live inside you and even if you reach a point that you can’t remember they are still there, stored in the hearts of others and God himself. You are more than a date and some letters. Besides, I truly believe, there is another world beyond this one where there is no pain, no suffering, where our deeds of kindness are rewarded. And on a shelf in my room, in alphabetical or chronological order (whichever I prefer on a given day) will be the journals from a lifetime.