Throwing Out Fifty Things

So, I have started to realize that my house is more cluttered than I like it (and apparently, more than my husband and child like it!). I didn't realize that my books had overflowed quite as much as they have - and my desk looks like a paper hurricane touched down briefly.

I've typically been very organized in the past, and I'm not sure why all this accumulation has started to pile up. My daughter made me see it through new eyes when she told me I needed to call "Clean House". She finds my book collection alternately "impressive" and in need of Clean House to make me throw half of it out.

A friend recently walked in my house and said, "Wow, you DO have a lot of books", and she was only in the living room!

I decided I needed to do Something about this. Books are about my only vice, ocassionally chocolate or carbs supercede, but usually books are it. I can travel to places I may never go, meet people I'll never know, and learn things I'll never go to school for. They have always been there for me. When I find myself without a book to read I feel lost. So....I have accumulated quite a few. Well, more than a few....or a few hundred....(seriously).

I decided to get help - so I found a few books on the subject (of course). The one I've really enjoyed so far is "Throw Out Fifty Things" by Gail Blanke. I've marked it all up (in pencil), and have started cleaning in the Living Room. She suggests starting with labeled trash bags, "Throw Away", "Donate" and "Sell". Unlike the Clean House folks who might make me cut down my books to the Top 50, Gail says that something that has sentimental value or makes you feel good, you keep. Anything that has negative energy or feelings associated with it - it's gotta go.

Knowing that I don't have to pare down my collection to the bare minimum makes me feel freeer to get rid of books I don't want, or have tried to read, but couldn't get into, or books I know I'm never going to seek advice from. In the the first two bookcases I went through I found a stack of books from when my little heart was much younger, and flipped through them, enjoying the memories. I also was able to let go of about five of my books that I haven't used and probably never will. Hopefully someone else will get some use out of them.

I'm not very far in my quest to throw out fifty things, as quantities of the same thing only count as 1, but I've made a start!