Nothing like a new year to get you thinking about your life, I suppose. Where you are, where you want to be… do you even know where you want to be? I know lots of people do, but I’ve never been one who is good at defining goals - I change my mind too much! That being said, there is a certain and definite satisfaction in making progress towards goals. In many senses, new year’s resolutions are goals… but perhaps they are more about finding the light within yourself, what your inner desires are.
Sometimes it’s really hard to be a person who thinks too much about everything. Is this shampoo made with chemicals that damage the environment? What about the poor child laborers in China or Mexico who made this shirt? If I say my opinion, won’t his feelings get hurt? And god it takes so much effort to read food labels! One of my biggest “goals” or resolutions this year is to simplify my life. Granted, I’m not working at the moment (job hunting), so my life should be really simple, shouldn’t it? I don’t even have kids! Well, I have a husband and two crazy cats, but really, compared to most I live a blessed life, and I am aware of that. But this crazy obsession with “stuff” - stuff to buy, stuff to do, stuff to read… it’s overwhelming.
Luckily, over the last few years the Navy has courteously moved us 3 times… each an opportunity to get rid of things, things that crowd, things that suffocate, things that just don’t mean anything and yet somehow got into the apartment, stayed, and multiplied like so many dust bunnies , not that there any dust bunnies in this house, ha. (And yet, funny thing is, every time they weigh the moving truck, it’s about the same - how does that even happen? I suppose it must be the furniture.)
Anyway, it is said that “You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.”(Vernon Howard) I’m a long way from succeeding! But things are slowly becoming clearer. In that regard, I am giving away about a third of my books (my books?? No, not my books!!!), to the New Orleans public library system. After the hurricane, they lost a great deal of their stacks, and while I know it is not a top priority like rebuilding and human and animal life, still, there is a beauty and an earnestness in books that is not present online, and certainly not on television. Holding a book in your hand and reading is a mental and physical exercise that is not one to be replaced.
If you feel the same, please donate good condition hardcover and paperback books (for people of all ages) by mailing used books in directly to them. The US Postal Service has a special “book rate” which is a lot cheaper than regular mail, so be sure to ask about the book rate.
Send your books to:
Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations Department
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112
Wow, totally not what I thought I was going to write… but it’s what came out. Oh well, it’s a blog, what can I say?
February 26th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
I think you may be on to something here. I have a lot more stuff now that I’ve been living in a house for eight years. Maybe I can get the clutter under control if I move a few times!
Only problem is, if I sell this place, I won’t be able to afford to live in the area!
March 7th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
That’s surely the truth! But maybe you can do 15 minutes a week of picking a few things to get rid of? Drop them off at Goodwill or post ‘em on Freecycle for others to use.
Wish I was back in the MD though; I’d help ya.