Last week I moved house. During the move I took stock of my belongings in my ongoing battle with clutter and discovered that more than half of my boxes contained books… and that’s after I gave a box or two of books to a good home a month before!
The emotional attachement that is made with a good book is strong, and it is this that is causing me to hoard them. Advice for clearing literary clutter, an Ask MetaFilter thread, may be the starting point of a new purge.
De-cluttering involves recognizing that regret is part of life, and being OK with that. Yes, I’ve given away books that I now often wish I still owned. But I’ve also screwed up relationships, made iffy career choices, etc. — you suck it up and move on. If you try to cling to every single thing (material, spiritual, or emotional) that you might need one day in the totally hypothetical future, you’re going to end up bogged down in a lot of stuff.
via 43 Folders
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One response to “Purging Book Clutter”
Not to add more literal, “literary” clutter to the mountain of books you already have, you may be interested in my book which was published recently called “Your Spacious Self: Clear Your Clutter and Discover Who You Are”. Ten years in the making (the amount of time it took for me to process my own slippery relationship with clutter, and discover why most well-intentioned clearing practices don’t last), this award-winning book shows that clearing does not have to be one of “suck it up and move on.” It’s not about the stuff (or books in this case), but the “holding on” that needs our love and attention. The unique “go slow to go fast” model of clearing teaches that clearing one thing mindfully, or “putting away every day” (even just one paper clip), promotes well being and lasting change. You can learn more (read excerpts, testimonials, etc.) by visiting my Web site: http://www.spaceclear.com/. I hope this helps. Happy clearing! Stephanie Bennett Vogt