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Putting the Past Behind You

I have mentioned Jacques Derrida’s essay “On Forgiveness” on this blog, but it recently came back into my life for a different reason: my career.

The point Derrida makes in his essay is that to forgive means to forget; to forget means to make a conscious effort not to dwell on the past. This act of forgetting does not equal amnesia; instead, it is the act of putting one’s entire faith into believing that something bad will not happen again. In family life, for instance, forgiving an adultery means to forget that adultery exists; to treat your partner as if they never cheated on you, and to treat yourself like you are not worthy of being cheated on. In politics, this would be about treating the war as if it does not exist, so that you can never use it as the means to solve problems.

The problem that was holding me back, as I recently discovered, has to do with rejection and the lack of appreciation. People around me at the moment give me a lot of support and encouragement, something I have not had for some time. They believe in me, they see me as a winner, and I know I am going to amaze myself with my achievements this year. But something wasn’t quite right. It finally downed on me yesterday exactly what it was.

It was the past experience.

So many times have I put past experiences behind me. God knows, I could already be very cynical, but I have always made a conscious effort not to let this happen. Yet in the field of my career, in the matters involving career progress and money, the negative experiences outweigh the positives. I have always worked hard but this was often taken for granted. As much as I can say that I should have been more demanding of recognition, I cannot deny that I expected to be recognised for my sheer output, for the amount and quality of my work. It is the direct opposite of my work and achievements in creative and intellectual fields where I have always been “a high roller”.

As they say, the moment you identify the problem is the moment you can expect to find a solution. And this is where Derrida enters the picture. I cannot change the past, but it is entirely in my capacity not to let it further ruin my life prospects. I hear a lot of talk about “taking control”, and this is exactly what I am doing. I cannot change the past, but I can take it to a remote barn, stack it there, close the door, and never go there again.

I share this because at different points in our life a lot of us find ourselves in precisely the same situation. Something just does not let us move on. Something keeps playing the trick. Do not be afraid of confronting it. Strangely, the same relates to the positive experiences. Do not dwell on the past glory, do not try to repeat it. Instead, take every single opportunity as if it is happening to you for the first time ever, and make the best of it.

Author: Julia Shuvalova

Julia Shuvalova is the author of Los Cuadernos de Julia blog. She is an author of several books, a translator, and a Foreign Languages tutor. She lives and works in Moscow, Russia.

4 thoughts on “Putting the Past Behind You”

  1. Absolutly… Julia I have never seen you as a victim.. and I never will.. this artical, has said it all.. you have taken control of your life.. you will move on to bigger and better things, and not look back..

    Keep smiling Julia, the past is gone, and the world is in front of you.. take it, it is yours..

    Many Blessings

    Naukishtae

  2. Naukishtae, thank you so much! Yes, I do believe I will be counting my blessings, and you are one of them. I cannot say how grateful I am for this comment.

  3. You said it all. I do not know your troubles, but you shall find the solution, I am sure. As for me, I forget the past – I am detached from it – but I do not forgive. Never. And not the big stuff, but the small. Am I petty? I hope not. I rather think that I am sticking to my principles. Past, bad, experiences do not hinder me and good ones inspire me. I never hope for the best, to hope is to do nothing, I simply act. And things happen.

  4. @Purpur, I think I know what you mean. There is, for instance, a person who did me wrong. My attitude to him is such that I cannot care enough if he is dead or alive. I don't hate him, but I'm so much past him that he simply doesn't exist.

    The way I look at it, is that I allow a human to err because I am human and I err, too. But I read someone saying there was a difference between a lie and deception, and the speaker allowed the former but was passionately against the latter. I am the same (*I think*).

    With Derrida, to me he was simply trying to move away from bipolar world of constant hatred.

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