Could you burn your pictures and letters and other personal memorabilia?

I can’t imagine being able to do so. Even if the memories are bad. Sooner or later you come to grips with those memories, but you can never replace these pictures. When people lose everything because their home burned down, the thing they miss the most is their photo albums. A lot of people place those albums (or CDs) on the list of things to save in the event of a fire. Some of these things go back for generations, and show a lot of history.

I’ve heard of writers burning manuscripts; painters trashing paintings, and people burning love letters. I’ve even heard of relatives burning someone else’s letters or journals because it was requested in their will.

Could you do it? Have you done it? And most importantly, why?