With the digital world changing how we get our information, storage becomes the new bookshelf.
What Books Do I Keep?
Today I was looking at our book cases. I love the look and feel of books. They add warmth to the home and each one holds wisdom and adventure. So what will this look like in 5 years time? What about in 20 years? Will we be all fully online for everything? Then what will happen to all the books in the world?
My thoughts around this involves the constant shifting of storage types. I mean one upon a time we recorded digital media on tape drives, then floppy drives, then CDs, DVDs and now hard drives. Will there come a day when my hard drive will no longer be read by the device and programs I have. Then what? We are already looking at recorded media at our house that is likely not to be read. I have videos of me playing touch football 20 years ago that may no longer play.
Books on the other hand last as long as the paper (based on weather conditions etc). Stories in those books enable us to know cultures, people and events. The cultures we know little about are the ones that have not recorded their stories.
This tells me how little we really know. Makes me see the power of intuition and the travel across all time and space we can do by sitting in stillness to connect with that which we don't know.
So what will we do with our books? I don't know.
For now, I ended up finding 4 books I bought when pregnant that showed you how to unleash your child's genius. They are amazing books. One in particular came from the US and cost (wait for it) $140 to ship. The book was only $15. (clearly I am not over that!!)
From these books, I made a lot of props to support the stimulation of my gorgeous daughters genius. She was reading before she could speak.
So now it is time to get rid of them and the props. I will definitely be putting these on the 'for sale' pile.
As for the rest of the books... not sure what we are going to do with them. Time will tell.
Cheers from Deb (perplexed by the info storage challenges of the future)
What went out - 4 items
Books
What came in - 0 items
Nothing again... (big fat silly smile)
INSIGHTS
(1) The world is in a constant state of flux... changing with it enables growth
(2) It is not the book itself, it is the insights one gets when reading them, that creates value
TOTAL: OUT - 796 IN - 76
TOTAL CASH sales from gone-ski items = $48
Today one of my dear friends lost her son in a tragic accident. It hit us all so deeply, we all just cried at the office. No words describe this moment. No words.
What's really important.
So this had me stop in the stillness tonight and access things differently. I hugged my daughter, enjoyed a glass a wine with my ex husband and snuggled with my gorgeous husband because each moment is special.
Each moment is all there really is. And at any time it will change, go away or morph into something else. Change really is inevitable.
The changes we are making at home are breathing life into all of us. As the clutter goes away, as the realisation of the wasted time and money transitions into a flow of energy into love and life, we give thanks to the simple things.
And as I sign of from tonight's blog I just want to say thanks. Thanks for stopping by to share this little part of my life and for the joy I am sure you bring to peoples lives.
What went out - 11 items
We went through another book case shelf. Out go a few obvious 'never going to read that'....plus returning a few books.
What came in - 2 items
Jerry bought two shirts as part of his wish-list
INSIGHTS
(1) It is the simple things that mean the most
(2) Stuff actually takes away from the simple things
TOTAL: OUT - 702 IN - 51
OMG... I just found 6 audio cassettes in our bookcase! WTF!! We haven't had an cassette player for over 10 years. What does that tell you?
What was hilarious was my impulse to save them and somehow get them converted... NO!!!! I have not reached for these forever so why do I think I will use them in the future. GONE-SKI!!
What went out - 22 items
A pile of audio cassettes, a stack of those small little books you only read once... like '60 Ways To Feel Amazing". Isn't it incredible that I have felt amazing so often and haven't needed the book to do so. Gone!
What went in - 0 items
Nothing. And no desire to go out and buy anything. One thing I notice now is, every thought I have of something we need, I instantly think wish-list, not shopping.
INSIGHTS
(1) Holding onto anything we have never reached for reveals a belief of some kind
(2) The money spent on impulse buys is better used to create experiences
TOTAL: OUT - 648 IN - 49
I decided to do on top of the fridge... it was hilarious!
Take it all off first
My way of de-cluttering is to take it all out first and only put back what I would buy if I didn't already have it - a good principle to work by.
So everything came off the top of the fridge and in the end NOTHING remained... LOL.
The two boxes of spare champagne glasses we have (when the thirty people come for a party), the massive cane tray we have NEVER used, the heart shaped (coated) baking tray and plastic cupcake liners are all going to a better home.
The serviettes, place mats, and hand towels have been put in a more handy place.
The six more empty boxes were added to the gone-ski pile.
What will I put on top of my fridge? Not wine as it is too warm, not anything heavy as it is silly.. how about my cook books? They are currently hidden away in a cabinet...out of sight, out of mind.
Ok...here's what I am going to do. I will find an old wooden box that I can repurpose and put my cook books on top of the fridge. That way I can use them more often and enjoy more cooking with my family... yay!!
What went out - 11 items
6 more empty boxes, a cake tin, 2 trays, an old oil bottle (that would not clean properly), and a set of plastic cupcake cookware.
What came in - 0 items
It is amazing how little interest in shopping I have at the moment. WTF is wrong with me!?!
INSIGHTS
(1) Creating clear space is so refreshing to my soul
(2) There is often a better place to put things
TOTAL: OUT - 620 IN - 48
Time to cull some books. But how?
Every single book has gold inside. This is going to be hard... but it has to happen. Here goes...
Start Small
I decided to just do the cookbook and gardening shelf. Great decision! One shelf at a time is a simple way to do this.
The criteria I applied to set the books free was:
- Have not opened this book...ever - GONE
- Have opened it but not used any information from the book - GONE
- Have hoped this book would call me to read it, but I've kept putting it back - GONE
11 books were put in the donation box.
I feel GREAT!
So can I do one more shelf? Yeah why not... standby.
Well that was fun. I just did another shelf and cleared another 7 books. The second copy of Eat, Pray, Love is going to mum and the rest to the library to see if they want/need them. Not sure if libraries take books but no harm in asking.
What went out - 19 items
A stack of books are going out the door plus one plastic makeup bag that came with my birthday present.
What came in - 0 items
Nothing to report peeps.
INSIGHTS
(1) Lots of things just become part of the furniture... we become desensitised
(2) Books are either HOT or NOT... we intuitively know which ones we can let go
TOTAL: OUT - 605 IN - 48
