Friday, August 5, 2011

The simple life

Every so often, I get a bug.  I don't know where exactly it comes from or where it goes, but a couple of times a year, I purge my stuff like I was moving to a monastery. Or a nunnery. Or whatever the equivalent might be for a Jew. Which there isn't, but that's not really the point.  The point is, I got on a kick last night.

When I started, I was just kind of wondering what riches I had in my Hallowe'en drawer.

In my craft room/office, I have a Hallowe'en drawer. It is not like the Garage of Dread. The Garage of Dread is filled to the rafters with tombstones and coffins and body parts and rotten fencing. The Hallowe'en drawer is just a little drawer full of stamps and carving tools and stickers and other small items. So I went looking for treasure.

After I took down the Hallowe'en drawer, I took down the ribbon drawer.  Then the paper drawer and the sewing supplies drawer. Eventually, the entire Wall of Craft came into the living room and onto the floor. It needed to be organized. Cleansed.  I guess they still wouldn't let me take my Wall of Craft to the nunnery...stupid nunneries, but it is organized.

I wound up with a bag of craft supplies that is going directly to the Downtown Women's Shelter.

Last week I cleansed my bookshelves. Here's what I realized. 
  1. There are always going to be more books.
  2. I do not have room for the books I already own, much less the books I want to own.
  3. I need to get rid of books.
The Burbank Public Library was the beneficiary of my need for purification.

I love simplicity. I also love my things. I love my Cupcake Couriers and my collection of hats. I liked owning the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Lysistrata and the entire oeuvre of Edith Wharton, but I was willing to part with them knowing that I can get them on Kindle for free. I like having a Be-Dazzler, but to be honest, I really don't use it and can't imagine the next time I will...goodbye Be-Dazzler. It was fun while it lasted.

Perhaps this weekend I will end up organizing the Garage of Dread. Those rotting fence posts aren't smelling any better and besides, I need some space for my worms.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting point about the free Kindle books. I hadn't considered using them as a way to clear the bookshelves. Hmmm...

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  2. Jen - I've gotten my book collection down to two shelves of fiction and two shelves of non-fiction from the massive 10 shelves and overflowing that it used to be!

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