Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2019, Page 4

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4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • January 15 2019
It’s the middle of January
and I’ve already succeeded
in breaking most of my
New Year’s resolutions, which
is just as well because I’ve been
pretty much recycling the same
resolutions for 30 years. Maybe
longer. The best of intentions on
the first day of the year usually
declines to “I’ll get to that next
week” by the middle of this
month and then “I’m quite
behind” by the end of February.
When spring arrives, I find a new
burst of energy but by summer I
eventually arrive at “what’s the
point?” I’m resisting the urge to
skip ahead to the last stage early.
The Yuletide season is
probably a poor time to make
resolutions. Indeed, it may be
the worst of all possible times to
do so. I’m usually so exhausted
by the end of the so-called
“Christmas break” that it takes
every ounce of my energy just
to sit down at my desk again
and begin wading through
everything that was left undone
as the year drew to its close. It
may be more realistic to simply
resolve that the next time this
season rolls around, I’ll just
wallow in excessive revelries and
perhaps even open myself to the
possibility of doing something
I’ll live to regret later. That’s a
promise I could probably keep
and, besides, I wouldn’t have
to get around to it for at least
another 11 months.
One resolution I’ve stopped
making is the promise to thin
out my library. At least, I’ve
decided not to set a specific
goal numerically. If I don’t set
myself up for failure, then I
can’t fail at the task. I recently
read that de-cluttering expert
Marie Kondo suggested that, in
ideal circumstances, we should
keep fewer than 30 books. I’m
pretty sure my personal library
was larger than that before I
started school, although I long
ago confessed that I didn’t read
a full-length book through from
cover to cover until I was an
adolescent. (As it happens, that
book was W.D. Valgardson’s
wonderful collection of short
stories, Bloodflowers.)
In fairness to Marie Kondo,
she’s not suggesting that we
shouldn’t read voraciously.
She’s saying that we shouldn’t
keep books around as household
ornaments. Once we’ve read a
book, we should pass it on. If we
feel the urge to keep it, perhaps
we need to read it again. And
then pass it on.
While an uncluttered
home may seem desirable,
an uncluttered mind has no
appeal for me – and my books
are extensions of my memory,
stirrings of my imagination, and
inspirations for better living.
At last count, my library had
reached 6,500 volumes, but I
think that was about 500 books
ago. (Yes, that’s one of the ways
I measure time.) What those
who call us to live simply may
see as thousands of books is for
me a single library. I have an
entire shelf of books on living
simply, conquering clutter, and
managing time – most of which
I have used in preparing for
sermons, workshops, and classes
– and though I no longer have
need to consult them frequently,
I’m not prepared to let them
go, either. Simplicity may be a
treasure, but simplistic advice
and arbitrary rules are a worse
form of captivity than clutter.
I admit that I live a cluttered
life – and I have resolved to
accept it. My home is also filled
with heirlooms from the past.
I’ve read several articles in recent
years that have suggested our
children and grandchildren don't
want our fine china, handcrafted
furniture, and ornaments.
The cynical authors of these
articles were never speaking
for me. I dwell surrounded by
the treasures of my ancestors.
Others are free to do what they
wish to do. But it’s one thing to
avoid being overrun by what
others have accumulated; it’s
another thing to be so allergic
to heirlooms and clutter that we
can’t see the value in anything
we didn’t acquire through our
own consumer choices.
Marie Kondo does offer one
useful principle to employ when
deciding whether or not to keep
something: does it bring you
joy? That is a useful insight and
I think I will make it my single
resolution to strive to keep this
year. I will endeavour to focus on
those possessions and activities
that bring me joy and the rest of
what surrounds me can pile up
and gather dust. When the pile
grows large enough, I’ll move
it to the garage or else give it
away. As long as I can conquer
my inner puritan, I think that’s a
resolution I can keep.
Stefan’s Saga
Stefan Jonasson
Editor
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