Keep Resolutions Say Goodbye to Old Friends

Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.

~ Louisa May Alcott

Aging in Place

One of my New Years resolutions/goals was to “declutter.” So, given the Arctic cold front that hit us this week, decluttering seemed like a good inside job. I took one look at my bookshelf and knew this was the place to begin.

Now culling through “old friends” (books) is not for the faint of heart, you must triage like a battlefield medic. I had to be realistic about who was going to survive and who was not. This question was my tool: Will I ever read or reference this one again?

This process takes time, like visiting old friends there is much to catch up on. Opening the cover is really like saying “hello” and getting reacquainted takes perusing to know whether to reject or keep them.Books you have carried around since schooldays hold memories and spontaneous Life review is part of the process.Notes I wrote in the columns, lines I thought were important yellowed out, and book markers that take you back in time–all part of the process.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, but in the end I managed to say goodbye to 12 shopping bags full; keeping only the essentials to my mission in life!

The Plan

With the constraints of snow and Ice closing my community center gym and not being able to run safely on snow packed sidewalks, I decided to multitask.

My plan was to each day go for a long walk in the snow-covered neighborhood carrying two large bags of books and distribute them to our multiple community tiny libraries scattered strategically around by community minded-home owners.

This was such a delight to accomplish, I needed the exercise, kept my New Years resolution to “declutter” and I felt a sense of doing good by sharing my books with other community members. A terrific win-win despite a snow storm because of a simple decision to keep a commitment to myself.

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Build a Little Free Library on a Shoestring Budget