{"id":8453,"date":"2014-05-05T14:53:14","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T18:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=8453"},"modified":"2014-05-05T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T18:53:14","slug":"making-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/05\/making-room.html","title":{"rendered":"making room"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bookshelf\"<\/a>I’m giving away my books. A LOT of my books. Even the ones I did my graduate work on. Even the ones that saved my life.<\/p>\n

I’m also giving away what scrapbookers call ephemera<\/em>: my mother’s passport, someone’s international driver’s license from a very long time ago. Earrings I’ll never wear, tea sets I never really used. Even pots & pans & my mother’s table linens.<\/p>\n

I’m making room.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing to really ‘make room’ for, I confess. But it feels, sometimes, like all this stuff<\/em> is smothering me. Even books. But the trouble is, a writer never knows what books might come in handy down the road. Still, I’m pretty sure I don’t need 20 fountain pens. I am<\/em> keeping the dictionary of art terms, a guidebook to Vi\u1ec7t Nam (once I spent an hour reading through it to make sure I had a bird right for a poem…), and waaaaay too many books of poetry. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"Pen<\/a>The ‘things’ are a little harder. Who will love my fountain pens? I don’t use them much anymore — the older I get, the less time I want to spend doing anything that feels like ‘messing with.’ These days, I can almost achieve that lovely sliiiiip<\/em> of ink in a good quality rollerball. Which have the added advantage of not exploding in your pocket or purse when you fly…<\/p>\n

Still, I love them. Even if they are just ‘things.’ I love their stories — who gave me this one, when, why it looks like it does. The feel of a point scratching a tiny indentation, on a piece of paper, for ink to fill.<\/p>\n

\"2011-02-26<\/a>And tea sets: do I keep the Beatrix Potter tea set for grandchildren? What about my grandmother’s tea sets (I have THREE)? The silver tea set? And what about the ones I rarely use at all: the celadon green tea set w\/ the Korean handle, brought back from one of\u00a0 Glen’s work trips? The white one that only seems right to use when it’s sooo hot outside…?<\/p>\n

And don’t forget all the darn linens! I took half a LARGE suitcase full of linens to my son & DIL last month, and we still have BOXES. I have my mother’s, my own, and several of my mother-in-law’s. Not to mention all the doilies my great-aunt Bonnie gave me, knowing I’d actually use them (yup, I confess: I use doilies w\/ tea sometimes — so sue me). \"2012-04-11<\/a><\/p>\n

But it’s the books that my friends deplore. You’re getting read of Virginia Woolf?? You aren’t keeping your Fisher? What about …? <\/em>And their faces look as if I’ve broken some sacred code.<\/p>\n

So why do it? What am <\/em>I making room for?<\/p>\n

I don’t have answers. It just seems time to pass these things on to other lovers of pens and tea sets and books. Even though I’m still buying ‘things’ (well, a book on bees, a brass pencil sharpener, a small spatula… \ud83d\ude42 ).<\/p>\n

Who knows what might show up if I make room?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m giving away my books. A LOT of my books. Even the ones I did my graduate work on. Even the ones that saved my life. I’m also giving away what scrapbookers call ephemera: my mother’s passport, someone’s international driver’s license from a very long time ago. Earrings I’ll never wear, tea sets I never…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,200,1],"tags":[1227,11,1181,1187,262,1308,793,792],"class_list":["post-8453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aging","category-attachment","category-uncategorized","tag-aging","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-everyday-living","tag-making-room","tag-paring-down"],"yoast_head":"\nmaking room - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm giving away my books. 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