I Am a Declutterer of Books

Of all the categories of my possessions, the book category has the most items. And it is the hardest category for me to purge. When I get into a fret about what to keep and what to give away, my daughter reminds me that I have time. I can take the time I need to do this sorting at my pace.

Books hold many memories for me especially the ones associated with homeschooling. It’s been 11 years since I’ve homeschooled. (11 years? Where did THAT time go?) It really is silly to hold onto these books. I am not going to use them again. I am not a homeschooler any more. It is time to update my (internal) image.

This week and last, I’ve been going though the bookshelves again. I want to and need to pare down my possessions. Bye-bye four bags of books. They were mostly books associated with our homeschooling days.

Don't these shelves look good? It is cool to see space on my shelves. It is cool to see my few knick-knacks. My goal is to empty one bookcase. I have 3 at home.

I have a lot of notebooks: 2 shelves worth. That is my next project. See what's in them: then toss, file, or give the contents away! Notebooks need to go.

NOTE: The middle photo is the 5th photo in my series, A Winter of Self Portraits. When I was brainstorming a list of items for my Winter Bucket List, I came up with the idea of taking 12 self-portraits.

Your  Turn . . .

1. Do you have a lot of books? Is it easy or hard to manage these?
2. Is there something that is hard for you to declutter? If yes, what? Why?
3. Take your own self-portrait and share it with us.

RELATED  READING POSTS

• 10 Read Out Loud Tips for More Enjoyment
• 13 Benefits of Reading
• 21 Things I Learned by Reading Individual Bible Books in One Sitting
• How Good Books Aid in a Child’s Growth (baby shower devotional)
• Twenty Wishes Can Change Your Life (more than a book report)

RELATED DECLUTTERING POSTS

• 4 tips on how to declutter books and 6 ideas for what to do with them are at this post, How to Declutter Your Bookshelf. It is written by Katie at Making This Home.
• Identifying Not Just Goals, But LEGACY Goals Makes Junk Tossing Easier If I don’t sort my stuff while alive, my kiddos will have to deal with it when I die. Some of that stuff (right now) is junk. That junk is part of the legacy I leave them. Embarrassing. Being purposeful about what I keep will ensure that legacy is not tainted. Read this post for more clarification.
• Junk Pyramid has a clear picture of what constitutes junk. But books don’t fit those criteria. So JP divides her books into 2 categories, adult and children. She asks different questions from each category in order to decide if the book is a keeper or not. Have a read and see if this is helpful information.
• Mrs. Green from My Zero Waste asks herself this question when trying to decide the fate of a book: “Does this represent me now, or who I was in the past?” Since I have been thinking along the same lines lately, this post helped me better define my own thinking. Read the rest of her post here.

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