Last year, I had this crazy idea to not purchase new books for a year and read only what had on my shelf or Kindle. It was a great idea for a few weeks until I began reading books I hated. Not on purpose of course, but when I purchased these particular books my interest in them quickly went away unless I read it that day. One of the worst things in life is a terrible book, or just a book you don't want to read. One of the beauties of adulthood is reading whatever you want. So after having absolutely no interest in the spies of George Washington (and some school books I saved- WHY?), I gave up this plan. I felt like it was another failed attempt at my projects and I felt even more like a failure because I went public with it, and it involved books I owned.
Yes, it sucked and I felt crappy but I quickly dusted off my bookish ego and it made me appreciate the books I truly do love. This also made me stop purchasing books, unless I absolutely loved them and wanted to show them off on my shelf. I still pick up books from my own bookshelf from time to time, but there's nothing like a good book, no matter where it came from. After being completely honest with myself, regardless of how critically great, huge or pretentious stories looks in my house, I got rid of items I would never read, and that's okay. I know letting go is part of growing up, and I'm okay with failing as long as the lesson was there for me all along.
