The Tyranny of Books...

 Books. One of my very favourite things. I was a bookworm from the time I first learnt to read...sneaking up to other children's bedrooms at parties to see what they had until an adult (usually my Dad) came up to drag me back down, telling me to 'be sociable!'

 I also married a bookworm...and our idea of heaven is to visit bookshops and (especially) second hand ones on our travels and bring armfuls home...we have a LOT!

 Cookbooks especially...I've been a food professional for 34 years in one way or another and it's another thing that has always fascinated me...so I amassed a massive collection (over 2,000 at one point..)

Magazines too - music, interiors, food (naturally)...anything interesting. I'm sure that many of you are the same, it's not a unique obsession. But I've discovered some things about the acquisition of books and myself over the past year or so. Part of the change I referred to in an earlier post is a considerable shift in my attitude to 'stuff' and possessions in general. I'll write more about this in other posts because I find it absolutely fascinating.

I had thought that books were some how sacred and exempt from the minimising process. There's a sort of mysticism over them isn't there?...keepers of secrets and knowledge...bringers of joy and wisdom. And - I had to admit this to myself but it wasn't easy! - there's also a certain 'snob' value in owning lots of books. They reflect so many of ones values, interests, dreams, ideals...it's a nice thing to have lots of them but also subconsciously I think I've been guilty of being a bit boastful in having so many. As though the volume makes me appear intellectual or 'highbrow' to others. I've always had a secret thrill when visitors have said 'wow, so many books!'

Well, no more. It was incredibly hard to begin, but we have pared back by roughly a quarter I would estimate. How many biographies of Hitler does one household need? Not the FOUR that we had! Some books were so precious to me that I had three or MORE copies, dotted around the house in different editions in case I mislaid one. No more! That was a problem with myself that I had to untangle - WHY were these titles so important that they became like safety blankets in my mind? The answers were difficult to face but I had to do the work on myself and then be brave and save just my favourite edition. Any book we hadn't read - gone! If we haven't read it by now, we never will. Any magazine not read by the time the next edition is published - gone! All subscriptions cancelled as it's too easy to just let them accumulate...all that money wasted for nothing! Cookbooks were difficult but often I bought them for reference and never used them (I so rarely use cookbooks these days...if I do it's purely for inspiration.) I sold quite a few on Ebay - the brand new ones. But everything else is donated. There are so many good causes that love books in excellent condition. It feels brilliant giving to others in need.

I'm not finished yet...every week or so I cast my eyes over the (still full but not overstuffed) bookshelves and pick a few more that can go. It gets easier. And knowing that they have a good home makes it better too. We still buy books but it's one in, one out now. Time to change. I hung on to so much for so long and gave inanimate objects so much power and emotion. I needed to realise that they are just things.

It's definitely a work in progress. But everything feels better for it.