Less and Less

If you haven’t read this article, you really should.  And then, take a junk tour of your house.

Don’t know what a junk tour is?  It’s where you go around your house and look at all the useless crap you have accumulated.  It’s where you find the clothes you haven’t worn in 2 years, the books you read and never want to see again, the cds you listened to back in college when you thought the girls would think you were smart if you listened to Bach . . . or was that just me?

Anyway, it is simply amazing how much just plain stuff we accumulate without even noticing.

Well, this week, I worked on having less.  First, I went through my cds.  I never had a large collection.  And since the only cd player I have is in my car (not really counting my computer), I don’t listen to any of them very often.  There are a few groups I enjoy, but I had at least 40 I hadn’t listened to in years.  And, while I didn’t get much for them when I traded them in, at least they weren’t sitting around my place anymore.

The more difficult culling was the books.  I used to have a large book collection.  Not quite a private library, but I had 3 six-foot tall bookshelves, double-stacked.  Over the years, I’ve sold the ones I didn’t read anymore (or didn’t like) to various used bookstores.  But this last one was different.  I set a goal (clearing one complete bookshelf) and forced myself to make hard choices.  Some of these were books I’ve had and enjoyed for years, but hadn’t read for awhile.  Others were series I had started, but lost interest in or skipped a book and couldn’t get back into.

I love books.  It’s a pretty simple and truthful statement.  But, at this point in my life, I don’t need to have them everywhere around me.  There is a semi-decent library here in town (soon to be expanded), and I have a stack of MFA books that need my attention.

I’m not sure what will be the next victim of my wild desire to simplify my life.  I don’t really own very much anymore.  But I’ll find something to get rid of.

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