2livesimple’s Weblog

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.