Reading is my lifelong favorite hobby. I love to read. But I own more books than I will ever read in my lifetime. How did that happen, you ask. I used to visit my library so often that the staff became my friends. They'd invite me to their holiday parties. I'd take classes, do dinners, and hit the happy hours with these dear friends. But the books eventually made me crazy. I'd lose them. I'd damage them. I'd keep them too long. So, I decided to collect books I didn't have to worry about returning. Because I spent my Saturdays yardsaling, my office soon filled up with books. I was happy, but eventually I felt overwhelmed. Then I discovered Paperbackswap.com.
Paperbackswap.com (or PBS as we insiders call it) seemed like the answer to a prayer. You send books out and get books in return. I figured I could get rid of a slew of books and make other book lovers very happy. Yes, I got rid of a few books. But then I won fifty credits and that was the beginning of more books coming in than going out. My mail carrier saw how much I loved receiving books, so she began leaving me bags of books. I have shelves or piles of books in every room of my tiny house. I have multiple copies of books because I can't remember which books I already own. I'm smothered with books. Then I discovered The Book Thing of Baltimore.
The Book Thing is a warehouse of free books. You can take as many as you want. You can donate as many as you want. This seemed like the answer to a prayer. So I painfully filled two big bags with as many books as I dared part with. And I brought home a trunk load of new ones. Fail. After today's clear out, I have three big bags of books to donate. But do I dare take a trip to Baltimore? It's very difficult for a bibliophile to deny herself free books. Every beautiful cover promises an escape to a world far more interesting than mine. I get excited just thinking about all the books to be read. I need to get rid of the three bags I filled today. And soon because I don't want to dip back into the bags and convince myself that maybe I should keep just this one. Until I have a solution, where can I store them? In the office I guess. Sigh.
I made jewelry for a while. There was a lot of stuff to buy for that hobby. I bought tons of beads and fixings at my yard sales from all the other jewelry makers who had given up. I have containers to separate my beads. A light to view them as I put the pieces together. Tools to connect said jewels to the wires. Then I had cataract surgery. I can no longer see the small work the way I used to when I could take off my glasses and bring the wires and fixings up almost to my eyelashes. So I stopped making jewelry. But I have boxes of great stuff if I want to start up again. Sigh.
I have fallen in love with painting. It is relaxing. It is therapy. It is fun. A few trips to Michael's and I have canvasses, watercolor paints, acrylic paints, brushes, frames, palettes. Where to keep everything? Where to set up my easel to paint? I managed to clear the desk in my office. I cleared a couple shelves for the paining supplies. But it's kind of hard to get into the office now since all the stuff I don't know what to do with is sitting on the floor waiting for me to throw it out or find it a new nook.
I am one person. I live in a three bedroom house. They are three very small bedrooms, but three rooms never-the-less. How in the world have I filled it up? Once I get some more paintings done, where will I hang them? How do you minimalists do it?
