Two good friends have responded to my last post about the sheet music. One response suggests going ahead with plans to just let it all go and the other suggests keeping it and appreciating it and, what an idea, playing it on my piano. Why haven't I thought of that??!! Both are good ideas and I really appreciate their interest.
So, the saga continues... Backtracking, Let me just ask you if you have discovered Librarything.com? It's a rather amazing website that allows you to catalog your books online. The wonderful thing is that it then puts them in alphabetical order for you, complete with pictures of the cover of each book. You can line all your books up "on a shelf" with covers facing out to see, and admire your own literacy. The site also has interesting features, like a blog spot, and reviews by members, etc. It has become an obsession for me. (I think obsession is another word for hobby.)
Anyway, I, myself, just me, clearly own more than 200 books. That's a lot. Too many, really. And that's just me. Each other member of the household also owns that many, give or take quite a few. It adds up.
I came across three boxes of books I'd packed up when I thought I would be moving across the country. They are too heavy for me to lift, so I opened them up to take a look inside. (There might be some more I could add to my Librarything library...yippee!) So, of course there are more to add to my list, which means there are more that need a shelf to be housed on in my real/physical world. I don't want to throw them out, even if they are not overly useful. The question arises,is the ownership of the books the same thing as owning the sheet music?
I want to keep the books. The sheet music DOES have value..somehow. It's so old. It will never pass this way again.
And there are these nice, pretty, looks-just-like-the-right-size plastic boxes for sale at Albertson's for just five dollars each. It might only take four or five to house the music. Then they could be moved to the basement to await another discovery of them in another hundred years or so.
So now .... what? I'm back to... I don't know. Aren't you happy to be sharing all this with me? Yes, I have commitment problems. Maybe I'd better keep the music, in the boxes, and try playing some of it. And I should build shelves for the books, because if they aren't available, what good are they? And who is going to move it all out of the house when the time comes for that? Call Got-Junk. It won't cost much.What would you do? Makes no difference...what shall I do?? I do want to know what all of you think. Please keep it focused on this problem, however, not too much character assasination thrown at me, please. I'm fragile. Can't you tell?
Okay, I'll buy the boxes and fill them up and look at what's there , and have an asthma attack from all the dust and find somebody to carry it all downstairs to the basement and wonder how to get the bookshelves built............Do any of you ever wonder just what drives me crazy? Let me tell you..............................................................
5 years ago
3 comments:
In all honesty, I think the sheet music will sit in the new boxes until your kids end up tossing it all. Playing it is one thing, but ask yourself if you really, really, really will do so. If not, don't waste your time or space or money trying to arrange and protect it.
Still can't commit to chucking it all? Give yourself an ultimatum. If you haven't played at least 4 pieces of sheet music within two weeks, get rid of it. Something like that. Most importantly: stick to whatever plan you come up with. And be brutally honest with yourself when you try to come up with your plan! Self-honesty is the hardest thing for humans to do...
Wow BennyK aka Dr. Phil... I'm impressed by your solid advice. And I agree.
In my humble opinion mudder, it seemed you had your mind made up until someone came along and changed it. Gee, I don't know how that feels. Are you trying to not "hurt" or offend the friend who said you should keep it by rejecting his/her advice? I don't know what that's like either. I hope you can sense my sarcasm because really I'm trying to relate. It can be something very insignificant to the other party but they will express their opinion- I'm sure just being nice or being a good friend or whatever- and all of a sudden my thinking has gone completely in another direction. If I'm careful, I can step back and remember what I was thinking myself. But that's not always the case. So be careful to listen to yourself. That's my advice.
Imagine it somehow all just disappeared. Poof! It's gone and you can never get it back. What do you feel... quick before you censor yourself... Do you feel light and relieved that you no longer have to worry about it? Do you feel sad that it's gone and wish you would have played it and displayed it and protected it? Be honest, like Ben said. Or, are the bad feelings more like guilt and worry about what other people think- like you said, is it your mother's voice or your own?
You've both been very kind. Thanks so much for your help. When I imagine it gone, I feel much better. And lugging boxes around is what I want to avoid. The big problem I think, is where does it go from here. That's really the sticking point.
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