It seems so difficult, doesn't it?  All that past weighing you down...  but it really is easy.  It's your _belief_ that makes it hard, and only you can change your _belief_.  The past is no more than memories.  Shitty high school got you down?  Ditch that bitch.  I learned a number of great visualization techniques to dump baggage.  Visualization is a powerful tool for altering your mind, because the brain responds so well to richly imagined events - we make them real to ourselves.  I like to imagine the baggage (a thought or belief) being put into a box, and the box being placed in the basket beneath a balloon.  I then imagine the balloon being released, carrying the basket away, and imagine myself feeling lightened by the belief being diminished.  If you do this enough, you can mitigate the effects of the baggage, and eventually eliminate them altogether - they become insubstantial, like a dream.

When you get good at this you will then re-acquire your own creative power.  Focus on being the person you want to be.  Bring back that child you loved.  You can start by simply pretending - even if you don't feel it - be fiery and flamboyant even if it feels false.  And each time you do it and you get a twinge of it being right, reinforce it by saying to yourself "that is me, that's who I am."  Like with the balloons removing bad stuff, this will create good stuff on the other side of the balance, and tilt your personal scales.

You are a living work of art.  You've allowed some crap to get on your own personal painting.  Start re-painting it today.

H.