I made a transition this week. Sitting in my reading chair, enjoying Katharine Esty’s 2019 book, Eightysomethings, I was inspired. I too needed to make a Transition as she describes in her book.
My office, the converted balcony outside our bedroom, is lined with books and windows. It is a long thin room. The house walls make up the inside and large nearly floor to ceiling windows form most of the outside walls. There are bookcases everywhere there are no windows.
Sitting in my comfortable chair I realized the case across from me was filled with books I would never consult again. They are the many books I accumulated while researching my doctoral dissertation. Many of the books I needed did not have digital copies available or were more expensive than my adjunct salary allowed. I have quite a collection of books about online teaching. All of which are now outdated and useless. I am no longer teaching due to budget cuts so the many books I collected pertaining to adult education, leadership, and curriculum are not needed.
It was time to admit, I am retired. I need to transition to my retired state. I need to clean out the library. It has been easy from one characteristic. I love those little PostIt© flags and notes. The books, when pulled from the shelf, have colorful snips of paper decorating the edges. My pile of bookmarks has grown and will be culled. Old business cards make good bookmarks, but I don’t need 250 or more of them.
I now have a shelf devoted to the poetry I love, Amanda Gordon, Clint Smith. These new, young poets share the shelf with Robinson Jeffers and Emily Dickenson. The book of poems I read from each bedtime with my children is there also but tucked behind because it is falling apart. Luckily, it is still in print, and each grandchild warranted a family copy.
Another shelf is devoted to my new hobby of writing a book series. I have realized that the publishing world is big business, so it is on Amazon if you are interested. I have learned many things since beginning this project: how to make charcoal; how to sail a sailboat against the wind; and how to make a crossbow. In the common parlance, these are rabbit holes, but fun ones. Learning new things keeps your mind sharp.
There are a few more shelves to clear. Then the hard decision, what to do with all these used books.
Originally posted to Medium: https://pat-in-a-hat.medium.com/making-a-transition-d0dd096e695f
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