I’m not very good at throwing things away. Ask my mother. Recently, in my own place, I’ve been better. I can drop off a couple bags of clothes at a donation bin. I can get rid of the bean slop in a block in the back of my freezer (you know, from the one time I tried to make a big batch of soup to be economical, ate one serving and then froze the rest to eat at a “later time”). Old knick-knacks, burnt-out candles. Dead light bulbs. I can give away furniture or electronics I don’t use or need.
But.
I can’t get rid of books. And papers. It’s not in my nature. My office mate at work hates my desk touting stacks of papers and reference guides. He thinks it’s messy. I think it’s a beautiful collection of information and tokens of stories. Anecdotes of people and knowledge invested and stowed away collecting interest. I’m proud of it, and sometimes when I need a breath of air from the sea of work and words, I sit and look at the piles of particulars and volumes of grammar rules (hopefully my coworkers don’t notice—although they’d probably just assume I’m staring off into oblivion).
I have a bookshelf at home (in fact, it’s neatly organized into a Read section and Not-read-yet section), but the books I’ve accumulated have sort of spilled over into the next room and off the shelf. I can’t help it though. You just never know when you’re going to need to know something housed in a book you decided not to throw away.
This is reminiscent to me of that scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring where Gandalf sneaks away to Minas Tirith to camp out in the deep dark libraries to research the One Ring. Now, imagine if the inhabitants of Minas Tirith decided those records weren’t important? The Nazgul would’ve made it to Bag End, and that would’ve been the end of things (and my dad would be thrilled a second and third movie didn’t have to be made—he’s not a big fan). I love that scene though; it expands my world, makes me think of all the information, stories, histories and tales in deep dark places in our own world; makes me feel and know that there’s a lot to learn. A lot a lot a lot.
So with what do you find it hard to part?
