Books, DVDs and CDs, Oh My!

Okay, I know it sounds a little silly, but I am having a hard time parting with some of my books, DVDs, and CDs.  It’s a necessary task, since I obviously cannot take all of them with me when I move to Jordan.  Whoever coined the phrase, “You can’t take them with you when you’re gone!” was absolutely correct, although I’m hoping my “goneness” is a little less permanent than he or she had in mind!  Yes, I’m aware “goneness” is not an actual word.  Creative license is being used liberally here.

My book collection, especially, has been tough to go through.  Having made two successful rounds of elimination, I finally filled the trunk of my car full of books.  That was the first big step.  There they sat for a week or longer, sliding around, banging into one another like never before, already less treasured than the ones that, having made the cut, remain snugly secure upon my bookshelves.   My friend Ruby got first dibs after we met for coffee recently.  She chose a few great novels and some landscaping books.  Next, I offered them to my friends Lisa and Helen, and they chose about 20 more.  The remaining books, mostly non-fiction and educational books, I donated to a fairly new used bookstore in my hometown.  The owner did not offer cash in trade, so I ended up just donating them to her (she seemed like a nice lady). 

Recently, my husband and I talked at length about the merging of our books--what he has there, what I’ve left there over the years, books he’s left here and would like to have back in his our collection, as well as titles of which we both have copies, etc.  This way, I won’t pack and send duplicates.  For us, melding our book collection is a pretty big deal.  It’s symbolic, in a way.  Fellow bibliophiles, you know what I’m talking about!  At any rate, that dreaded third round of weeding through my bookshelves shouldn’t be postponed much longer.

Round 2:  Bye bye, books.  It's been nice.

DVDs are a bit easier.  For one, many of the discs from the U.S. don’t work in the disc players there.  Any that I do choose to send to Jordan will most likely have to be played on my laptop computer.  Some absolute favorites I will bring, but most of my DVDs I will probably be able to part with fairly easily. 

And it's off to High Voltage Records you go!

Yesterday, I completed Phase 3 of  ‘Project CD Collection’.  The first phase was stacking all of them (at least 300 CDs) on the dining table and tasking my daughter with checking to see if they were already burned to iTunes on our computer.  All but about 30 discs were, thankfully.  The second phase involved finding a place to move them where they would be out of the way until I was ready to start Phase 3.  There they have sat for the past few months, until yesterday.  The third (but not final) phase was going online to see what their value was.  This was interesting.  Most used record/tape/disc stores only pay between $.25 and $5.00 for used CDs.  This is heartbreaking, considering I typically buy the whole CD (to support the artist…it’s the right thing to do!), then save it digitally and shelf the CD itself.  I finally called a store in a nearby city and talked to a guy there.   He told me they don’t like Classical, Opera or Pop Artists (their loss, in my humble opinion!).  Everything else, he said to bring on in, and they’ll go through my collection and tell me what they will buy from me, and for what price.  So, I went through them, and pulled aside all the “unacceptable” CDs.  These I put in the “Donate” pile.  The “Sell” pile has about 200 CDs.  Phase 4:  carry them down to my trunk, and drive them to their new home.  Very few CDs will be moving to Amman with me but I do have some full collections that I couldn’t part with:  Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Bach, and Beethoven to name a few.

My beloved books, DVDs, & CDs, awaiting transport to Jordan.

All of this has been a true test in detachment!  Already, I feel a little less encumbered.  I’ll end by sharing the following quote:

“Detachment does not consist in setting fire to one’s house, or becoming bankrupt or throwing one’s fortune out of the window, or even giving away all of one’s possessions.  Detachment consists in refraining from letting our possessions possess us.”    (Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, pg. 135.) 

I just LOVE this quote!  It makes the parting that much easier. 

Good morning, Seattle, and good afternoon, Amman.

-M.