Update

I haven't made any more trips over to Goodwill, but I am about to go through my closet again to pull out a bunch of stuff that no longer fits (in the good way… simplifying my eating is having a payoff).

I am still taking something out with me whenever I leave the house.  Sometimes just garbage and recycling.  Sometimes things I want to give to friends or family.  It's slow going, but at least it's going.

My next project (once I'm back from a well-needed vacation) will be to focus on an area (a closet, book shelf, or even a drawer or cupboard in the kitchen) and spend one hour going through it.  Figuring out what I can let go of and getting it out of the house.

Should be a fun time.

Books, books, books

I'm a huge reader.  And more than that, I'm a huge collector of books. I read them and I keep them.  Some I reread, but for the most part, they just sit on the shelves gathering dust.  But parting with them isn't easy, since they usually hold so many memories for me.

Well, I'm trying to get over that.  Some time ago, I started buying ebooks on my Kindle.  No clutter, no mess.  Now I'm starting to pare down the collection of books.  Right now, it stands at six large bookshelves completely full of books, even stacked on top.  In addition, I have books squirreled around the apartment.  And I have seven boxes of books, still packed from my last move.

I did try getting rid of my books using Paperbackswap.com.  While I liked it, the books just didn't move that quickly.  I investigated eBay and Amazon, but frankly, the amount of money I might make just didn't justify the work that goes into listing them.

So I'm taking them over to Goodwill.

This week I took over four bags (approximately 60 books).  Those were the last of my Paperbackswap.com books.  I've started filling more bags, and hope to make at least one or two trips to Goodwill each week to drop them off.  If I can do that, and make at least one trip per week to drop off clothes and miscellaneous, I'll be making some real progress.

Steps in my minimalist journey

I'm slowly trying to declutter my life.  Trying to get rid of the items, physical and metaphorical, that are standing in the way of the life that I want.

This will be a diary of my accomplishments, and perhaps, it will give me some added incentive to stay on my journey.

As a first step, I'm trying to make sure I always take something out of my apartment whenever I leave it.  It may be garbage, recycling, donations for Goodwill, something to send to a friend or family member… anything I can get rid of.  Figuring that I get out of the apartment at least twice a day, I think it will add up quickly.

Today I took out an empty box and my garbage on the way to work.  When I got home, I took two bags of books (35 books total) over to Goodwill.  Nothing huge, but it all adds up.

I have a stack of art books that I'm planning to send to an artist friend (he makes wonderful collages out of such things).  I'll probably take those into work tomorrow and mail them out.

Going along with this step is the need to prepare things to leave the apartment.  I've been putting together some bags of items at night before bed.  That way I have something easy to grab in the morning, and one or two things on hand for when I get home.

Nothing profound.  Nothing difficult.  But as they say, little strokes fell great oaks.