2026-08-08 · 6 min read
What to do with everything that reminds you of them
'Just delete it all' doesn't work for everyone. A staged approach — box it, don't burn it — gives you room to decide at your own pace.
After a breakup, the physical reminders — photos, gifts, shared objects — can be the hardest part. 'Just delete it all' is the advice everyone gives, but it doesn't work for everyone. Deleting something you're not ready to let go of can feel like losing the person all over again.
A staged approach: box it, don't burn it
Instead of a dramatic purge, box the reminders. Put the photos, the gifts, the shared objects in a box and put it somewhere out of sight. You are not deciding to keep them forever or throw them away. You are giving yourself room to decide later, when the decision doesn't hurt as much.
The specific case of shared cloud accounts
Photos on shared cloud accounts are a special case. If you share an account, the practical move is to download what you want to keep and remove yourself from the shared account, so you stop getting notifications and the photos stop surfacing. You can decide what to do with the files later.
The point of the staged approach is that you are in control of the pace. The reading on the home page can show you where you are on the arc, so you know what tends to help right now.