When we moved to Richmond from San Diego, we got rid of probably 12-15 boxes of books. I don’t even have any idea of how many books we had, but we still moved here with another 12-15 boxes of books.
Peter Walsh addresses the issue of too many books (funny enough, in his book on getting rid of all the excess stuff) in “It’s All Too MUCH”. I’m not even able to really answer the question of “Why is it so hard to get rid of books?”. The last time I counted how many books I have, it totaled a little over 500.
Today I counted, and came up with 262 books (including Peter’s book). With my wife looking over my shoulder (at my request), I found it easier to be more brutal, and pared down even more. I came up with 36 books to get rid of, and 12 to give to my sister. I put 16 books in a box that I want to read, but don’t yet have any idea of whether I would even want to keep or not.
This leaves me with 197 books, and I would like to get it down to 100. Once I get it to that level I would like to adopt a 1 book in / 1 book out policy.
Whether it is a book (and if it’s not obvious, I love to read) or anything else, why is it so difficult for us to get rid of stuff? What is the need? There are books I have been meaning to read for a number of years, and yet find it difficult to let go of the desire to keep it. Somehow I still believe I will read it.
I read a number of books on Buddhism, and love the idea of non-attachment, yet my emotions must somehow still be tied to stuff. I find it interesting that they often discuss the idea of a monk owning little to nothing. Often just their robes and a bowl. Yet I have yet to find anything that speaks to the layman about how to be part of this world, and control material possessions. For example, I cannot wear a robe to work, and I’m sure I would be talked to if all I had was 1 outfit that I wore every single day.
How much is enough?
I would love to hear about what others are doing to simplify their possessions. Does it come naturally, or do you have to work at it. Is it due to financial limitations, or are you trying to live lightly? Do you have rules you have established? How many square feet do you live in, and with how many people?
I will be trying to share all of my own answers to these questions in the following posts.
One of the most inspirational pictures I have ever seen is a picture of all of Gandhi’s possessions when he died.
Reading “Into the Wild”, I was Immediately impressed by Chris’ lack of attachment to material possessions. That he could feel so comfortable with the world without having a home, or much of anything.
We are currently trying to downsize our home. Get rid of everything that does not truly add to our lives. In this process we are following the teachings of Peter Walsh. Many would know him from clean sweep as the organization, keep/sell/throw/donate guy. Others would know him from his appearances on Oprah.
My goal is to get rid of 10 things for every 1 thing I keep right now, and if I were to make any recommendation for a book to buy, I would have to start with “It’s All Too MUCH: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff” by Peter Walsh.
In fact, Walsh should be a verb like to Google. To Walsh would be to really get organized once and for all. Not by buying expensive storage solutions, but by getting rid of all the crap that fills our homes.
Filed under: About 2LiveSimple
Stressed. Counting the days until the weekend. Thinking about bills to be paid. Job getting harder. Worried about saving for the future. Housework to be done. Yard work to be done. Things to be put away. Things to be repaired. Am I exercising enough, or even at all? Why do I buy so much stuff? Where does the money go? Why am I spending more when there are already bills to be paid? How big of a house does anyone need? Who has $25,000 for solar panels to be installed? Should I have bought that Prius that gets great gas mileage, but cost twice as much as the car it replaced? Why do items that are green, natural or organic cost so much money? If it is renewable, then why does it cost more than something that takes longer to replace, or never can be? Does one person make a difference?
This is going to be about my quest to live more simple, and yet still within society. I don’t wish to eat nothing but rice, live without health insurance, and save 1,000 little soap chips to melt into a bar of soap. I want to find change that would become a regular part of life, not something that I give up for a year to write about simplicity, but return right back to where I was before. How I didn’t buy anything for 1 year, but had my home remodeled while this occurred. How I lived without a cell phone or coffee for a month.
I hope that others will follow (and join in on sharing their thoughts and ideas) as I try to journal my process.
