“There’s an image of an old dresser on my mind.”

The older man walked along the footpath a few metres below a high mountain ridge. The younger man followed. They enjoyed companionable solitude, but the young man couldn’t shake the image and asked the wise man for his opinion.

“You are going through a period of great change in your life my young friend. Are things stored in the dresser that need throwing out?”

“My mind is full of memories.”

“Secrets?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Yet your response was curt.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound abrupt. I’m not particularly proud of everything in my memory and some things are best not disturbed.”

“Why?”

“Embarrassing, not experiences I wish to share. Others are painful.”

“Yet you store them in the drawers of your dresser.”

Another great mountain came into view as they rounded a large erratic boulder. The young man stopped and leaned, short of breath. The older man looked at him, a slight smile, an obvious concern on his wind-worn face.

“Thinking about the clutter in your dresser is not going to help with anything except draw you back to past events. Why go there? What purpose might it serve?”

The young man still leaned against the boulder but had caught his breath.

“You may as well put your energy into moving the boulder as revisiting those memories.”

“Even if I could move this boulder, it serves no purpose.”

“Quite true my friend. Just as resurrecting those memories serves none. Let this wind in our faces take away your clutter. Leave the drawers open until it’s gone. Make space for new experiences.”

Having done that, they continued along their route with the younger man in the lead. His higher-self took hold of his imagination, expanding his thoughts. His step light, he seemed to float above the path.

“Now work those imaginations into reality but don’t forget to tidy away the clutter occasionally.”

The young man laughed and followed the thread of a great idea. When the path offered two routes, he knew precisely which to follow. He hadn’t allowed all the clutter to blow away, he knew of an audience who may appreciate and learn from his past.