Do You Carry An “Albatross?”

In the seven part poem, “The Rhime of The Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the main character, the Mariner, is forced by his companions to wear a dead albatross around his neck, after having shot it with a crossbow.   
 
His companions thought it bad luck that he shot it, when it had brought them all good luck. 

The theme of “having an albatross around your neck”, has become a symbol of a burden one carries.   

In modern times, it is symbolic and may appear in one’s life in simple ways like, tending to that bug-infested backyard that is not going to come to life without your attention. 

Or, it can be something more significant, like a past memory, trauma or bad choice in life.  Something that you can’t seem to free yourself of. 

I have more than one “albatross” in my life at the present time, and I am finding it high time to let those albatrosses fall to the ground; as it eventually did for the Mariner. 
 
It doesn’t always take therapy to determine what it is you are carrying.   

Taking a pen and pad, opening a new document on your computer, or notes on your phone, can be the first step in taking hold of those memories, experiences and life events that weigh you down every day. 
 
You don’t have a responsibility to manage these events in your mind.  Your only responsibility is to put them in their right place.  And that does not include “wearing them around your neck” like in Coleridge’s masterpiece. 

Do a little bit of work on your part and ponder that which has plagued you.  I think you will find that once you put pen to paper and see it in writing, you can better deal with it. 

Maybe simply put them all on paper and tearing that piece of paper up is the symbolic therapy needed to let it all go. 

Or, it may take some time once you write it down. 

One thing is clear, you are allowed to be free of burdens that have already occurred.