On Stuff
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Last night I finally made the biggest purge-plunge of all, books.
Over the past several months Ryan and I have been planning and sketching up various custom bookshelf designs to construct around our antique piano - wall to wall, floor to ceiling. I had to build this bookshelf in order to finally organize my books, DVDs, trinkets.
[I apologize that I have no photos of my own boxed up books!]
The more I read on disassociation from clutter, the more I realize how much of the things I had to organize were simply clutter. Junk that I've been carrying around with me for years, stuff that represented my aspirational self (like I was really ever going to read Tolstoy for fun on the weekend... or finish knitting that sweater my mother started 30 years ago (striped grey mohair and peacock blue silk?).
Ecology textbooks, 18th century literature anthologies, children's literature books I never enjoyed... why was I hanging onto all of this? 5 bankers boxes of novels, whittled down to one box, containing only books I truly loved, would re-read, or reference on a regular basis (mainly my yoga texts).
[This photo makes my skin crawl]
While I still cannot wait to build a glorious bookshelf out of reclaimed lumber, I no longer need it. Organizing and displaying the stuff wouldn't have lightened my load, if anything I would feel the weight of the unread novels and my aspirational self even more than while this stuff was in boxes.
I would never think, not in a million years, that getting rid of stuff would make me feel so free.
posted by Sarah-Mae @ 1:28 PM,
3 Comments:
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At September 24, 2011 3:04 PM,
Melissa said...
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I know, who would've thunk it?? It feels SO good and beyond freeing to finally get rid of stuff that you've been lugging around for years. I'm still on a quest to purge a whole lot more, and with each box or garbage bag taken away from the house, the better I feel. It's like, a can breathe!
Keep up the good work! (Those photos scare me!) -
At September 24, 2011 5:57 PM,
Erin said...
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I really like this post, Mae! As an academic, there is so so so much emphasis on owning books, and displaying them on your shelves in your office... etc, and it's just sort of wasteful, most universities have amazing libraries, and you can get stuff loaned and shipped from other libraries for free. My parents (who didn't have much money when I was little) were really pro-library, and also into used bookstores, for the books we actually owned we had sort of a "one book in/one book out" policy, in other words, if we were given or bought a new book/new to us book then we also gave a book away. That's more or less what I adhere to now.... I read a lot, for school and fun, and my teeny apartment would look like the picture above if I wasn't vigilant about mostly using the library and giving stuff away. My book collection is currently pared down to, about 10 books crucial to my research that are hard to find at the library or get check out all the time, a few cookbooks that are my go-to's, and a few fiction books, that my cousins and I kind of pass around between us. Also, darn it, if you love a book isn't it better to pass it on to someone you care about, rather than it getting all dusty on your shelf?!
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At September 27, 2011 9:15 AM,
Katy said...
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It was serendipitous that I read your post about minsumerism the night before my parents called to say they are selling their house, so "come help get rid of clutter" (aka: come get your crap!). So over the weekend, we have been really editing out the unnecessary stuff and I FEEL SO FREE. The goodness is that our apartment can't hold a lot of stuff, so it has been the goal to reduce by almost 50% or more. Books are the exception, so far. Although I did get rid of two milk crates, which leaves me just the right number to fill the shelf.
It will continue, with the goal to be able to fit the things we own (except large furniture) on to a trailer so we can move with everything we need.
It's also a really great exercise in reframing to a new chapter in life: not getting rid of the past, but really thinking hard about what each item actually means to me, and my relationship with my boyfriend: is having this item with these connections really beneficial, or will it just bring tension into our home?
Reframing is the best word for the process for me. It feels good. (Sorry for the ramble!)
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