I just had the most radical and subversive—and exciting—thought I’ve had in a long time.

You see, I had a stack of 167 emails plus articles and notes that I’ve been collecting over the past year, and I told myself that after January 1, I. Will. Review. Them. All. and make a clear, cogent, strategic plan for how I’m going to figure out the rest of my life.

(Oy vey.)

But when I sat down to begin combing through all this material, there was a part of me that said I want to start fresh. Going through all of this old crap feels really heavy and tedious.

And that’s when this little thought sneaked in:

Why NOT just throw it all out? Why NOT delete all those email files and digital folders?

Whaaa????

You have no idea the internal war that started!

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Pro: Why spend all your time going over the past? Have faith that if you truly need that article, it will show up again … or you’ll find it again later.

Con: What if I MISS something? I could be spending even more time trying to retrace that breadcrumb!

Pro: What if you’re so afraid of missing something, that you get bogged down in the past? You could be missing the door to an adventurous future!

Con: But there are ideas and phrases that sparked feelings of elation and inspiration! If I delete it, I could be missing that one perfect gem that opens up the door to everything that I’ve ever meant to do in my entire life!

Pro: Seriously? Do you really need to go through each and every scrap of paper and email and follow ALL of those potential rabbit holes to their natural conclusion? Doing that could force you into creating a to-do list that may not serve you. You’re trying too hard to find the perfect path of purpose.

Con: You don’t understand. I don’t have time to waste. I have to get this right! There’s a right way to go about this process of figuring out “what’s next.”

Pro: You’re falling back into old patterns. This journey is not about creating the perfect five-year strategic profitability plan. C’mon – throw off the bowlines! Stop encumbering yourself with your old nonsense. Be real: if everything were destroyed in a fire tomorrow, would you miss it?

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Truth be told, I wouldn’t.

And it feels really freeing to let go of the weight of it. After all, the person who saved all this information a year ago, a month ago, yesterday—is not the same person I am today starting this journey.

So I don’t need it.

As Marie Kondo wrote, “Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest.”

Or, as my husband’s Aunt Joan used to say,

When in doubt, throw it out.

Time for a digital bonfire!