Fewer books, more energy
BY Bobbi Seidel • Asbury Park Press STAFF COLUMNIST • April 12, 2008
Years ago, someone told me that our possessions can own us. Don't recall who it was or when, but those words came to mind recently.
I'd been thinking about how rising property taxes and the skyrocketing cost of gasoline, food and utilities were taking a toll on me as on so many others. I wondered if moving to a smaller place would save lots of money.
My research showed it probably wouldn't, not with the need to have a place where pets are allowed and the high cost of living everywhere now. Still, I wondered: If I downsized, what belongings would I take with me? What could I live without?
Looking around the house, I realized an awful lot of items wouldn't go with me. Why not donate them to charity now?
I began sorting through the house, a little at a time, and gave some knickknacks, odds and ends, small collectibles and household things to nonprofit groups. I even included some books, making me realize I was serious about this.
I am a voracious reader of newspapers, magazines, books. I love books — the feel of them in my hand, that physical presence that says: This is real. It has meaning.
For years, I kept every book I had read. A few years ago, in a similar burst of downsizing, I donated or gave away hundreds of books. But I didn't give away any of the cookbooks collected over the years or other books special to me.
I've loved cooking and baking since childhood. I can spend hours browsing through
cookbooks, lost as someone would be in a good novel. I've bought cookbooks at stores, flea markets, garage sales, from wherever I went on day trips or vacations.
Some of my favorites are those used as fundraisers by churches, synagogues or nonprofit groups because these books contain the best tried-and-true recipes.
But this time, I browsed through a few cookbooks each day, checking for recipes I wanted to copy. When done, I added the book to the growing pile in my garage.
Two points became clear: I didn't want many recipes. Either I had the recipe or it was too complex. Time-consuming recipes no longer fit my life. Second, many books had been unused, a testament to my love of collecting: the big, hardcover one from an estate in North Carolina, dozens of books on baking. The Lebanese, Mexican or Greek cuisine books.
I kept some of the fundraiser books but gave up many. Finally, piles of books were stacked in the garage, then donated to charity.
I spent five hours rearranging my book shelves. Now, neatly next to one another are the dessert books and the ones on baking bread. The low-fat and healthy-cooking books are next to vegetarian cuisine. One long shelf holds cookbook sets and how-to books.
And how strange! The energy in the house seems oddly lighter, freer.
This doesn't meant I've lost my appreciation for wonderful artwork, books and music,
collectibles or the like, nor that I won't buy some special cookbook down the road.
It does mean that old saying is right: Our possessions do end up owning us. We can do fine with less and help others at the same time.
Bobbi Seidel: (732) 643-4043 or bobbi@app.com
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