I found a note I saved months ago while archiving old data that was cluttering my computer.
Before I continue, I need to fess up to something. I am a lifestyle minimalist. At least, I like to think I am.
Friends have called me a material anorexic. Clutter messes with my head and creativity. Destroys my peace of mind.
I have deliberately tried to make this website spacious, clean, and calm. Because, in a noisy world, it is easy to feel like you are drowning in distractions.
This year, I am stripping back my plant library and starting again. I have hundreds of books on the uses of plants.
Around 80% of them consist of regurgitated information. Copycats of copycats. And some, dammit, have even copied my own books!
One person stole my writings, word for word. They were about my deep, personal experience with a plant, and they passed them off as their own!
To paraphrase Withnail from the cult film Withnail and I: ‘I demand lawyers and blood, and will have it!’
Anyway, I digress.
So I asked myself while staring at my bookshelves: ‘Do I need them?’
I can feel myself beginning to rattle (writing those words).
My inner hoarder wants to keep them.
Why?
Well, you know, just in case.
I see hoarding as an addiction.
‘Stuff’, in our culture, often defines us.
Regardless of the tomfoolery, we might believe thinking it doesn’t.
Like believing we are above all that brand image, you know, consumer nonsense.
I don’t know about you, but as much as I would like to think I am. At the end of the day, I know I am as much a slave to that kind of crap as the next person.
Just not so immersed in it.
See what I did then?
I gave myself a get-out clause.
So, back to that note I mentioned earlier…
I’m sharing it with you as it is the start of the year. Ready? Here we go…
Deciding what to keep and what to let go is simple. Just answer three questions:
- Have I used it in the last year?
- Is it beautiful?
- Is it personal and irreplaceable?
Source: Move to Minimal
You have got to love minimalism. It cuts straight to the core of the matter. No fluff.
So here I am, looking at my bookshelves and deciding what to chuck and keep.
And then I spot my own books. If you do not know, I have written a few hundred thousand words about the food and medicinal uses of wild plants.
From the many emails I receive from delighted customers. The answer to all three questions above is a resounding, ‘heck yes!’
Click here to stroll around my digital bookshop >>
Talk soon,
