Last week I posted pictures of my books on Facebook and told them it was first come, first served for some free books! This was an odd gesture for some people to take and some messaged me wondering what was going on and if I was all right and wondered if I was giving away all my worldly possessions because I was moving to Tibet to become a monk! (Ok so no one actually asked that but it would have been a fair question…)
I love books. I have an unnatural addiction to Half Priced Books. I can imagine living in a house filled with books or possibly even made out of books…
So why am I giving 90% of mine away then you ask? Well it’s a combination of two reasons: Quality and Karma
Quality over Quantity
I’ve come to a realization that there’s no point in keeping books on my shelf simply because they look good or make me look good for owning them. Sure, if I had my dream home I would have a private study filled to the ceiling so that you’d have to use one of those ridiculously cool ladders to reach the top books (which are always the best ones.) But I don’t have a big Victorian mansion, I have a small 1920′s craftsman style house that just needs to be aired out, de-stressed and lighted up – so the books have to go.
Some people have said that my book purging is a result of my love for my new Kindle. True, I love my Kindle but I can’t read everything on there. I have certain books that I love that I will need to read in all their physical, paper turning glory as well as all my training books and business books that just don’t seem to work as well in e-book format.
It’s Coming Back Around Again
The other part of this purge has to do with my need to do nice things for other people.
I know, it’s a weird concept for some people.
I once paid for the car behind me in a fast food drive thru and my brother thought I was on drugs! It’s a wonderful feeling to do a randomly nice thing for someone else so my thinking was, instead of selling all my books I’ll give them to the people I care about and share something I love with the people who will appreciate them!
Look through your stuff this week and see if there is any space you can clear out and lighten up and by doing that you might be able to give back in some way too!
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