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Agreed. I think most people would be a lot happier if they got rid of half their stuff. Then, next year, get rid of half again. We all keep so much and acquire

Agreed. I think most people would be a lot happier if they got rid of half their stuff. Then, next year, get rid of half again. We all keep so much and acquire so much that brings stress not joy.

0_____0 2y ago
The only thing I regret getting rid of is books. I've moved many times and thinned my shelves severely each time. In retrospect I realize that I often want to refer back to them or show someone else something I had read. That being said I'd be lying if I said the value wasn't mostly sentimental.
- ghaff 2y ago
  Books can become this really religious thing for a lot of people. I take stuff down for the annual library book sale fairly regularly--and I've intensified over the past year or two. I know that a lot will end up pulped anyway but I'm at the point where I know a lot of what I still own won't be re-read or consulted. Still have way too much.
- neilv 2y ago
  I was a books person, and got rid of all of my books. Maybe all is easier than some? Only on rare occasions do I miss any of them, and that's not enough to make carting them around and storing them worthwhile. Also, having the the books go to good homes makes a difference in regrets. My sf collection, for example, got more use in its public library home, than I ever could've given it. And this one book that I think was inscribed by a famous writer (not their own book, but a gift to a friend of theirs), and which had randomly come into my hands, I in turn randomly gave to an ER nurse who'd had asked about it. The only books I really should've kept were the two that friends had inscribed to me, but those were lost in a tricky move.
- snarf21 2y ago
  I got rid of all my books a while ago and it was freeing. No more Tsondoku for me :) Previously, I always gave away books to friends after reading. Knowing someone else will enjoy them mitigates any loss aversion emotions (for me at least).
- hinkley 2y ago
  I only kept books I would read again. But at some point I realized that was getting away from me, and I had all of these books I had in fact read twice but ten-plus years ago. The question was if I would read them a third or fourth time. New books keep coming out, and this might be the last time in your life you read this book, and then you give it away. That statement is pretty straightforward when you’re young. When you get older it takes on a different meaning. I won’t have time for this. So far it’s only been a couple of series. I’ve had a lot of free time this year and I’ve read 3 times as many books as I have in my next best year in the last decade, so I may be able to revise that down, however I’ve also added a lot of authors in that process, which just puts more pressure on award winning books from thirty, sixty years ago.

Agreed. I think most people would be a lot happier if they got rid of half their stuff. Then, next year, get rid of half again. We all keep so much and acquire so much that brings stress not joy.

0_____0 2y ago

The only thing I regret getting rid of is books. I've moved many times and thinned my shelves severely each time. In retrospect I realize that I often want to refer back to them or show someone else something I had read. That being said I'd be lying if I said the value wasn't mostly sentimental.

ghaff 2y ago
Books can become this really religious thing for a lot of people. I take stuff down for the annual library book sale fairly regularly--and I've intensified over the past year or two. I know that a lot will end up pulped anyway but I'm at the point where I know a lot of what I still own won't be re-read or consulted. Still have way too much.
neilv 2y ago
I was a books person, and got rid of all of my books. Maybe all is easier than some? Only on rare occasions do I miss any of them, and that's not enough to make carting them around and storing them worthwhile. Also, having the the books go to good homes makes a difference in regrets. My sf collection, for example, got more use in its public library home, than I ever could've given it. And this one book that I think was inscribed by a famous writer (not their own book, but a gift to a friend of theirs), and which had randomly come into my hands, I in turn randomly gave to an ER nurse who'd had asked about it. The only books I really should've kept were the two that friends had inscribed to me, but those were lost in a tricky move.
snarf21 2y ago
I got rid of all my books a while ago and it was freeing. No more Tsondoku for me :) Previously, I always gave away books to friends after reading. Knowing someone else will enjoy them mitigates any loss aversion emotions (for me at least).
hinkley 2y ago
I only kept books I would read again. But at some point I realized that was getting away from me, and I had all of these books I had in fact read twice but ten-plus years ago. The question was if I would read them a third or fourth time. New books keep coming out, and this might be the last time in your life you read this book, and then you give it away. That statement is pretty straightforward when you’re young. When you get older it takes on a different meaning. I won’t have time for this. So far it’s only been a couple of series. I’ve had a lot of free time this year and I’ve read 3 times as many books as I have in my next best year in the last decade, so I may be able to revise that down, however I’ve also added a lot of authors in that process, which just puts more pressure on award winning books from thirty, sixty years ago.