The worry box
I keep all worries in a box. Some days, I manage to keep it shut for a while, and forget that they are there. Keeping the worry box locked for long is not such a good idea though. If you do that, you will find out that worries have a way of reproducing in captivity. The devilish little things will shake and rattle and screech, fighting for oxygen and making a racket. They may even force the box opened, and then it is a mess to recover spilled worries. That is why once in a while you have to open it and air it. Then carefully examine the contents.
The little ones usually stay on the top, and you have to be especially careful because they bounce and tend to fall on the floor and roll to quiet corners of your house. It is really time consuming the gathering of them. Handle them one by one, and then decide what you don't need anymore. Like "who is going to take me to the prom?" and "will he call?" or "how do I get to look like Gwyneth Paltrow?". The outdated ones may be wrapped in yesterday's newspaper and done away. It is not considered polite to dispense old worries to others.
The next layer is trickier to handle. These are the ones that grow when you unfold. Do it carefully. These have hidden edges, may prick and cut, and if you hold them too long against the light, they might make you look at the world as if there were nothing else to see. Something you lost, someone you miss, the unknown future and the unretrievable past, your fears. Hold fast, keep them in check, and don't allow them to take all the rooms of your house like a multiheaded beast.
The last layer is taken by the real big ones: the whos, the whens, and whys, the big questions that are difficult to answer. They are so heavy that they tend to stay firmly stuck to the bottom of the box. Don't try to force them out. You will have a hard time making them fit in again. If they show signs of unrest, pat their heads as you would do to a child and put them to sleep.
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