Books are not 'things'

Today is November 29, 2024. Why do we always want to buy more things when we already have so many that we don't know what to do with? Is it a way to placate your guilt when you lose something? I have a book I keep losing. Why? Because I can never remember where I put things. So after a frustrated several minutes of looking, I give up and go shopping. I think that might be one reason. I must not really like that book very much if I keep losing it, right? That’s another possibility. It’s called Motivate Your Writing. I could go order one from Thriftbooks, but I would still have to figure out a way not to lose it. And that is an overwhelming proposition. Figuring out a way not to lose track of a book would be figuring out an organization system. I’m really not up to that. It’s almost easier for me just to rifle through boxes and shelves full of books than to try to figure out how to organize hundreds of books. I don’t know for sure how many hundreds of books. If you think I have considered counting them, you are wildly mistaken. As soon as I considered ordering another copy, I laid my hand on the missing book. It moves around randomly in my bedroom.I have books on my headboard, books in boxes on the floor, and a makeshift book shelf that was an antique box. Remember the smell of Jergen’s lotion? Think of that smell mixed with gas on my hands. After shipping my brother’s box to New Jersey, I went and filled up with gas. I tried to remove the smell with this soap that smells like Jergen’s lotion. Now they smell like that mixture I just described. At the UPS store a few people had the same idea as me, but only two before me and three or four after me, not like I remember the UPS store as the gap widens between shipping date and Christmas day. Somewhere I read or heard that you should ship your Christmas presents three weeks before Christmas, and voila, today is exactly three weeks before Christmas. So, what about all these things we acquire? Many of them, I realize, especially at gift-giving occasions, are rather more symbolic than anything else. You gift because you love, and your gift is a token of your love. Therefore, you should not worry too much about what happens to the gift after it’s sent. My niece told me her daughter liked certain books, but I had already chosen three that I liked that I had shared with kids approximately her age, and they had liked them. I did manage to find one of the ones she mentioned after I had already bought the others. I used to worry a lot about things like whether that would mean the books would go to waste if she didn’t read them, but that’s why someone came up with the phrase, “It’s the thought that counts.” Well, it is, kind of, don’t you think? Reading socks. Did you ever hear of reading socks? I didn’t, but I got some at Barnes and Noble. I can’t wait to use them. Anyway, I still don’t know why we are so attached to things. It’s more things to lose, more things to dust, more things to bump into, more things to arrange, more things to organize, and more things for someone to deal with when you die. I actually think about that a lot. But I still find it very difficult to get rid of things and very difficult not to get more stuff. As for books, first of all, you can never have too many, but in order to read them, sitting still in one place for quite a while is usually necessary to get through any of them. I love to read them, but I don’t like sitting still in one place all that much, especially during daylight hours. Because I don’t like sitting still in one place very long, I am usually up doing something like going to the store or at work or, when I’m not doing one of those things or something similar, why, naturally, I am going to go look at more things to acquire, mainly books. I don’t have room for much else in my apartment, and there is always room for more books. For every book I finally take to God’s Storehouse, there are probably at least five more being pored over, while I decide if I can live without them. There are lots of things that would make it easier not to worry about how many books are accumulating in my room. One of them is if I had overhead lighting there, I could see them better and it would be more like looking at books in the library, for example, rather than turning on one of the three little lamps in each of three corners of my room, trying to see them. I am not sure why there are overhead lights in my apartment only in the dining room and the kitchen. So, you see, the solution to all this conundrum is to realize that books are not “things.” Books are living, breathing , organic parts of one’s life that cannot simply be dumped somewhere like a piece of garbage. In them are words of inspiration and useful knowledge, and great stories and…well, you know what I mean. I have not gotten very far with answering my question. Do you have any ideas? I mean there is just something about us and about this season that makes us want to look at things, even if we don’t actually acquire them. We also like to give them to others at this time of year, and I think that is really cool. I actually love looking for things to give at Christmas. Not huge, expensive things. I can’t afford them, and I don’t have anyone to buy huge, expensive things for. That’s why I don’t understand people who go out early on Black Friday and buy huge, expensive things. I guess that’s just one of the blessings of living alone. I don’t need any huge, expensive things. Except a horse. I need a horse. "My kingdom for a horse!" Didn’t someone say that? What? They have a video game about that? I will never understand this day and age. Happy Black Friday, everyone. Cheers.