I gave away the anatomy and physiology textbook I bought for a class I audited after grad school. I was too pressed for time to finish the class. I told myself that I would learn the anatomy myself by reviewing a bit every day.
Four years later, that's never happened. I've cracked the book maybe twice. It was time to get rid of it.
*Gasp*! I'm letting go of my dream! said my subconscious.
No, I'm not.
Just because we let go of objects doesn't mean we let go of memories, of the people who owned the objects, of the goals and dreams we associate with those objects. Practically anything can be replaced.
And for heavens sake, my office sits on top of one of the largest collection of medical books in the world! No, seriously--the largest collection. Somehow I think I won't have too much trouble finding another anatomy book if I want one. And probably one that's a bit newer, too. Remember, folks, you don't need to keep books. This is what your local library is for!
The Reckoning!
What: Item 145, my A & P textbookCost: $100. I should have borrowed it from a library in the first place instead of buying it. Or I should've sold it on half.com as soon as I was done with it.
Fate: Freecycle. The guy who picked it up seemed to really enjoy it.
Total $ spent on stupid stuff: $1654.00
Oh gosh this rings so true! I have a Personality Psychology text book I was lent (4 years later I *still* have it) that I have yet to get into. And this from the person who wants to get her Ph.D in Personality Psych haha! Still determining if I'll get rid of it before we move or if I'll finally have motivation to read it as we'll finally be in the same city as my potential grad program. Or maybe I should just return it lol!
ReplyDeleteUT has a pretty good sized library...probably with much newer versions of the book! Saves you a few pounds moving. But you know me, my librarian senses start tingling anytime anyone talks about books!
DeleteGood for you! This reminds me of that French textbook I've been hanging on to for, oh, the last 13 years. I maybe cracked it open once. And yet I'm still not ready to declutter it.
ReplyDeletethat's the thing about languages that's not true about the sciences: 15 years later, the language books are still completely up-to-date!
DeleteI had that textbook! It took me four attempts to finally pass an anatomy class in college. I had previously wanted to pursue physiology and physical therapy after I earned my dance degree. What a joke. I did what I had to, to pass two levels of anatomy in my final attempt, but never let go of all the stress and failure of the other attempts. Last winter I realized that I was in my last year of college, and I had been hanging on to all these textbooks for classes I would never take again, and a career I would never follow. I took them to a friend's who sells books online and said goodbye for good. I was better able to appreciate my success so far without all that baggage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, and reinforcing that one's dreams and memories are not in the things.
Makes me wonder why so many of us hang on to school stuff when school was so miserable for us. Go you for getting rid of the books! Awesome that you were able to help a friend out too.
Delete