March’s Resolution – Purging the Dead Weight

So organization isn’t my strong suit, but keeping track of my spending habits is doable.

Now you’re up to speed.

It’s freaking March already, so that means a new resolution. This one I think I’ll be particularly successful with, considering it’s been in the works for some time. First, a little background…

For years my life has turned more and more digital. All my music is on my computer and iPod, I watch all my movies and shows through Netflix, and I now own a Kindle so all my reading takes place on that. As a result, I’ve become rather cluttered with the remnants of my old analog life. A DVD rack full of movies I never watch, a giant CD folder (remember those? 500+? How did we manage to lug all that crap around?) that I never open along with a box full of jewel cases in storage, and a bookshelf full of books that are just taking up space (not to mention being a bitch to move).

I went into my feelings on material possessions a little bit in my “On Spending Money” post, so I won’t relate the story again here. But the Kindle was the straw that broke this camel’s back. I finally realized there is absolutely no point in keeping this stuff around anymore. Sure it’s nice to have a “backup” in case something happened to my digital copies. But really, it’s not like these are collector’s editions or rare or highly sought after for some other random reason.

It’s possible that growing up during the Wild West of Home Computing numbed me to the possibilities of losing data. It doesn’t happen to me much anymore, but when it does I simply find myself caring less and less. Because, with the distinct exception of photos and writings, absolutely none of this stuff is anything I can’t get back.

So for this month, I’m purging the dead weight. There’s a used bookstore near me that will at least take my paperbacks, and the hard covers will most likely be donated somewhere. Actually, this bookstore also sells movies and music, so I might be able to get rid of some of that stuff there as well. The aim is not necessarily to sell everything (although it would be nice to get something back on all this), but the overall goal is to get rid of it.

Also, I’m not getting rid of everything. I do have a couple old or particularly interesting books I’d like to keep. It’s mainly the fiction that I probably won’t read again, or if I do will probably just pick up a digital copy of it on the cheap. Same thing music and movie wise. However, I’m approaching this with a cleansing frame of mind. It’s almost Buddhist… a very “letting go of physical attachments” sort of thing. Except I’m still going to have a bunch of stuff, just not necessarily physical stuff.

With all hope, this month will come with more frequent updates. I’m also hoping to help write for a friend of mine’s blog, but things are still considerably busy and time is fleeting. Wish me luck, because I’ll need it.