Ok, I'm letting go now....

I've got a terrible habit of holding onto things well past their usefulness. Held until it is meaningless beyond sentimentality. Do these things make me feel safe? Do they make me feel like I'm any less alone?
I'm 42 and I have a stranglehold on the past. I should have noticed long ago that I was wasting my time, that, as always, nothing good would come of it.
15 years ago I stepped away from my life. I boarded a plane and touched down 9 hours later on foreign soil. I was reborn. It was glorious.
Well, the cocoon I've woven around myself in the past 8 years has started to constrict my breathing. I've been tearing away at it until my fingers are bloodied and I'm ready to fly. There will be no 9 hour flight this time however.