Lughnasa                                                                             College Moon

Heretical thought in my universe. Whew, all those books boxed up. Maybe I can just do without. Make them all red tape boxes. There’s a sense of liberation as the shelves empty and the areas around begin to breathe again, more space now, less like a scholar’s burrow. All my friends who’ve gone through this process, this decluttering have expressed similar feelings. Lifted off my back. Freer. Less weight. Less drag. Less. And in this case less is less, not more. Moving toward enough, away from trying to capture everything you like and hold it hostage at home.

Response to heresy. No, the time is not yet for jettisoning everything. This is not a sinking ship, nor is it a ship in trouble that needs to be lighter. This is a ship that will move more gracefully with less sail. That’s happening, has already happened.

There is another round to come, too. The third removal, after the move. The realization that this is not needed here, in the new place. Which will call out its own needs. Unknown now.

Lughnasa                                                                                     College Moon

The last bookcases. That’s where the packing has gone. Now China and Cambodia and the West and Emerson goes in boxes. Green tape boxes. More China, then onto the Celts and the Greeks, philosophy, American history, fairy tales.

Just moved the last gathering of liquor store boxes needed for books. Kate gets them, I unload them, then fill’em up, tape’m and stack’em. Objet d’art are on the now empty bookshelves in the larger basement area. Before Sort/Toss/Pack comes near the end of September, they’ll get sorted on a love it or leave it basis. Gotta cut them down, too.

We’re looking at the overall budget for the move now, preparing for a meeting with a financial consultant. Gonna take a dent out all round, but we’ll have plenty.

We’ve been fortunate, with Kate’s good earning capacity, and smart. We have enough and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. Still, you’d have to climb further up the wealth ladder to get to can-do-whatever-we-want.