I would like to live in the present as much as possible. I don’t want the past to hinder my choices and actions in the present. But I think a healthy habit of remembering and revisiting the past helps us be mindful of what happens around us in the present. Change is okay but we have to keep ourselves mindful that the things that are important are not completely removed and the things that do us more harm than good are not allowed to change.
That said, there is a situation where the past becomes irrelevant. If I try my best to be in the present moment and not think about all the other things, I feel good. Recollecting the past seems necessary for meaning-making, but meaning-making is not always useful for just trying to feel good. Being at the present moment, mindfully, no matter what is happening around me and in my life, this I think is still the most powerful form of therapy ever. One that makes all other therapies unecessary. When I am feeling in the present, I forget the self and all its history.