The thing kept for memory should still leave room for living.

Keeping and living compete for the same space. A box of somebody’s belongings, a room preserved, a drawer that cannot be opened without a bad hour: all of it is love, and past a certain point it also starts to occupy the present rather than furnish it. There is no correct amount and no schedule anyone else can set for you. The only question worth asking is whether what you keep is holding a memory or holding a life still.

If something has begun to take up more than it gives, you are allowed to keep one piece and release the rest. Slowly, and only when you want to.