My former life.
That’s a great excuse, right?
I mean, I’ve done quite a few different things and had a blast doing all of them. WHAT IF at some point in the future I want to do them again???
Like, I used to be a teacher. I taught high school English for two years and then taught Jr. High Theatre for two years.
Then I had babies. And even though I loved teaching, I loved having babies more. (Not the actual having, but you know what I mean.)
And now, when someone asks if I plan to go back to teaching, I can rarely get a “No!” out fast enough.
I’m thankful to have the opportunity to work toward making this blogging/writing thing my job.
But still, even though I’ve known for several years that I likely won’t go back to teaching, I still had my college textbooks.
Not because I read Contemporary American Poetry for pleasure . . . but because of what they represent.
They are a picture (a heavy, space-taking picture) of who I once was.
An intellectual. An educator. A person whose job, education, even personality . . . could be explained in one word.
And unlike “blogger” or “e-book author” it was a word that didn’t cause the average person to nod slowly while their eyes glazed over from total confusion.
But the fact is . . . studying those textbooks and teaching those students were important factors in creating who I am today.
But they aren’t who I am today.
And they’re heavy.
So now they’re gone.
Wait. You mean I’m supposed to get rid of my very first college level biology textbook? The one that is now 15 years old and completely out of date? The one I haven’t even opened in at least a decade? Hmmm … now that’s something to ponder.
Your college level biology book is only 15 years old? Crap. Mine is over 30. You mean it’s completely out of date? Dang.
I held onto some microbiology and genetics books for a long time–I think they reminded me that I used to be “smart” or thought I was. If I ever do go back to finish college, I’m pretty sure it won’t be that again.
Accepting the “new normal” hits us in so many ways, doesn’t it? Sometimes it’s so hard to let go of something from the past that we enjoyed so much at the time. I used to decorate cakes. Now – we try to avoid excessive sugar and food coloring, I don’t have the stamina to do a whole cake, I seldom ever have reason to even decorate a cake, and I’m trying to simplify my cooking. So…..why do I still have my cake decorating stuff? You know, you’ve inspired me. I am going to try to talk myself into giving that stuff to someone who might actually use it!
Thanks, Nony!
Now I’m really depressed. I have cake decorating stuff too (and probably 50 cake pans). The last cake I decorated was about 20 years ago. I don’t eat grains or sugar. At most I need a muffin tin, a loaf pan, and a springform pan. No wonder my house is a complete disaster.
Don’t be depressed, Peg. You can do it! I am trying to learn to “lay aside weights” as the Bible says. It’s really quite freeing if we can just think about it as letting go of weights that drag us down and going forward “lighter” in life, so to speak.
Plus, if you can give it to someone who will really use, that adds an element of satisfaction. It’s a new way to think about things but, by God’s grace, it’s growing on me.
I grew up in a family that collects stuff for all three of the main clutter reasons: 1. “I might need that someday.” 2. “This is an important memory.” 3. “I don’t have time to deal with that right now.” Sigh. It’s been a journey, I’ll tell you. But, it does get better. And, for me, as I saw my cupboards and drawers becoming more orderly and some spaces “expanding” and found that it was easier to deal with things, it got exciting and made it easier. But, I still have a *long* way to go. LOL
Lots of room for improvement still! And a couple rooms that need to be re-done from time to time. 
And my husband should get rid of his Electrical Engineering textbooks from his very first semester of college, before his life took a completely different direction and he got 3 and a half degrees in Criminal Justice?
Just this summer I got rid of all but my very favorite Theatre Arts and Communications textbooks. Haven’t weeded through my play collection yet. 5 years of teaching high school Theatre Arts and Speech and I can’t see myself going back to it for very many reasons, even when the kids are older. But it’s taken a long to to purge first my files and now my books, even with as often as we’ve moved.
I once saw this described as “getting rid of the phantoms in your life.” A phantom is something you once were, but aren’t any more. For me that was a classroom teacher. After reading that, years ago, I gathered up all of my classroom stuff, like bulletin board decorations, etc., and gave them to a beginning teacher. (I only saved things I thought I could use with my own children.) I told her that they were all hers. I didn’t care what she did to them: used them, gave them away, or threw them out, but I didn’t want them back. I heard later that she put up one of my bulletin boards and that made me smile! I can only imagine that this is a process we must go through many times in the course of our life.
I’m so pleased you’re doing the 31 dy thing, again! hooray.
I used to be pretty. But that went away on its own.
My husband had an entire collection of notes and texts from his undergrad degree in mechanical engineering, all the way back to the 101 classes. He’s now 44 and has a master’s degree in robotics, working in a completely different industry. It took a while — 18 years and five moves where we boxed and unboxed that stuff — but I convinced him that even if he ever had to refer to any of those basic concepts again (which I highly doubt), he could find it faster on the Internet. It took two entire 55-gallon trash bins to purge his collection. I also just purged my collection of clips (I’m a professional writer and editor) from my 16-year career. I don’t need two copies of every magazine or newspaper where my articles have appeared, and heck, I don’t even need to keep the whole magazine in most cases. So much of it is online now. I had a stack as tall as me, and I reduced it down to a leather portfolio, which I can easily take to an interview or career fair, and a couple of magazine holders. Boy, did that feel good!
It’s like you are narrating my brain… I used to insist to my husband that it looks cool when you lean a guitar that neither of us can play up against the wall. I finally got rid of most (not all) of my suits since my day-to-day is in pajamas more often than heels… or any other shoes. But no judging, right?
Good for you, Nony! I know it’s tough getting rid of books. I have a little bit of a different spin on this, in that we’ve homeschool for 25 years. I have always saved the oldest child’s curriculum to be passed down to the next one, and the next one, and the…..well, you get it. After my last child(almost 11 years ago) I determined to start removing curriculum from our home as soon as “the baby” was done with a grade level. It has not only brought in some extra money, but also freed up some much needed space.
Oooo. I understand completely. I am a homeschooling mom, but before that I was a mechanical engineer. It is hard to get rid of those books! I have gotten better about not seeing myself as a ‘title’, but it is hard!
Well, and what if I need those books someday …or I need to teach my children Calculus 4…no…just an excuse? I need to go purge some books!
Thanks for share Nony!
“But the fact is . . . studying those textbooks and teaching those students were important factors in creating who I am today.
But they aren’t who I am today.”
I haven’t commented in a long time, lots of excuses there, but:
I LOVE this statement. Those books did help create who I am today, but I don’t need them to Be who I am today! Great reminder.
We have been listening to the story of George Mueller, he was very extreme/convicted by God about not storing things here on earth. It makes me think about the reasons that I have all this stuff surrounding me. It is not glorifying to God and it can be better used by so many other people.
Good for you! Proud of you!
Thank you for this post Nony. I needed it. It is 13 years since I finished my accounting studies and I still have five impressive looking folders that sit not on a bookcase but in a box in the loft. I think I have kept them because they look impressive, because of the time commitment and achievement they represent and the what if I return to accounting and need to look something up.
Something my husband and I do to get rid of these overly long held things is ask each other to put them in the garbage or recycle bin when we decide it is time for the object to go but we can’t make ourselves do it.
I had such a hard time letting go of my textbooks. I loved how they looked all grouped together – screaming “look how smart she is” to anyone who looked.
But I did.
Why is that we have such a hard time letting go of the person that we used to be, I wonder? Even when we’re pretty happy as the person we are now. If one is miserable in the present I can see holding onto the past, but for those of us who are OK with our “now world” why the big stress over letting go of the past? It’s like we’re afraid if we lose connection with our past we will lose a piece of ourselves. But there’s a certain freedom of letting go of the past that can’t be found any other way.
Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
I am finally realizing how silly it is to hang onto all those “mementos” and papers and accomplishments. Even when I have more time on my hands, I am not going to take time to peruse and enjoy any of that stuff.
Thanks for inspiring us all!
I still have my college books from years ago, medical textbooks that were EXPENSIVE and very hard to part with (also not worth anything because they come out with a new one every 1-2 years) and I have them, all of them, in a box…maybe my kids will be interested in reading them…someday?
I know I’m not helping matters, but I used to LOVE looking at my mom’s old nursing textbooks when I was growing up. But then, I’m a weirdo who really loves textbooks.
So, what,do you do with old textbooks that are way out of date? Is there an organization that will recycle them that you know? I need inspiration for other stuff too (not just textbooks!).
Hmmmm. I just donated them to my general donation place. I try not to get too caught up in finding the best place to donate certain things, since that could mean they stay in my house for longer.
Ugh, this is something I sometimes struggle with. I have one microbiology textbook I saved….and every year or two actually use!! The big one right now are all my Unix books. I stay home with the kids now, and the baby is 20 months, so I’m not going back to work any time soon. But What If something happened to my husband and I had to get a job? Being an admin is the highest paying job I could get to support my family (and, I really like the work). But it’s a lot of books. When I worked, I referenced said books daily! But now….it’s been 5 years since I’ve written a sed script, or set up a HACMP cluster, etc.
We just moved a few months ago, and I actually moved those books. I tossed out boxes and boxes of books (ok, took them to Half Price, but I came out with money and not new books!) but brought the admin books along. They’re in the basement right now (along with all other non-essentials, we’re in a rental for a while). Maybe one day I’ll be able to toss them.