My bookcase had been a constant source of stress for me, because it had been crammed from top to bottom with books and file folders. I had run out of space and had begun to accumulate piles of papers and books around my room, and I finally decided that it was high time for a purge. The bookcase had 8 cubes, so I decided to tackle the top four. I was fairly attached with a lot of my books and didn’t want to end up emotionally and physically exhausted on the floor with all of my books and papers strewn about. So I limited myself to the top 4 shelves.
As I took out the books from the bookcase, I started piling them up on top of the desk and on the floor. I hadn’t started purging at this point. I had simply taken them out without worrying about whether I was going to keep them or not. Once the top four shelves were empty, I went through the books one by one and decided whether I wanted to keep it on my shelf or let it go.
Once I started putting in the books and saw how clean and organized it looked, I was really happy that I had started this project! There were some books I wasn’t 100% sure that I was going to keep, but I decided that I needed some more time to think about whether or not I really wanted them in my life.
I still ended up getting rid of quite a number of books and old magazines. It was easier to let go of all the magazines because I had gone through them and torn out the spreads that I had liked. I realized that I had been holding on to all that bulk for the sake of a few pages in each magazine. I got rid of some old textbooks that I hadn’t looked through in years, and books that I had told myself I would read but never really felt the urge to. It was such a relief just letting go. I don’t have to look at these books everyday and feel guilty about not finding the time to read them. I had gone through a phase where I wandered aimlessly about the bookstore looking for that special book that would fill the emptiness inside me. I’m sure I’ll still buy a lot of books in the future, but it’ll no longer be for the sake of fulfillment.
Your Turn ♥ Have you hoarded anything before? Books? Shoes? Lipstick?
