To Declutter Or To Keep?

My adventures in declutter-land ran into a snag with my yellowing Dungeons and Dragons books

Photo by Dmitrij Paskevic on Unsplash

As inspired by Marie Kondo’s decluttering Netflix show taking the globe by storm, I have since embarked on my own personal mission to remove all items in my room that:

1. Don’t ’spark joy’
   I define this as the initial feeling you get when you pick an item up. Revulsion? “Ugh”. Indifference?
   Answer: Toss it
2. Don’t fit anymore
   Through my shift in focus from long distance running to weightlifting and yoga (plus eating more), I have gone up a size in my bottoms. Embarrassingly enough, numerous pants buttons have come off while trying to helve some of these ‘more fitting’ pants around my waist.
   Answer: Toss it
3. Things I have too many of
   Decluttering forces you to take stock of what you have and what you don’t. Embarrassingly enough, I have about 10 empty notebooks from different sources; gifts, corporate events, company swag — you name it, it’s probably there.

So far so good.

But I hit a snag with my books.

Especially this beautiful collection of Dungeons and Dragons books

Growing up, I was a rabid Dungeons and Dragons fan. I stashed away pocket money to pick up high fantasy books from the local bookstores. I loved the open world of Dungeons and Dragons — a blank slate where you could live out your dreams of becoming an all-powerful wizard with godlike powers and create worlds with peerless imagination.

My fandom went up another level (leveled-up, if you may) when the computer role-playing game Neverwinter Nights was released in 2002. Not only could you create characters, but you could also access player-made modules and online gaming worlds that offered the limitless potential of play.

I credit D&D for sparking an interest in writing imaginative characters and defining for me what it truly means to role-play.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated shelves of high fantasy books set in the D&D world (I count more than 50 books now) sitting, yellowing with age and gathering dust on my shelves.

Just some of the fantasy books and D&D books on my shelves. To keep or to let go?

Do they take up a lot of space? Yes they do.
Will I read them again? I’m not certain
But do they look pretty? Hell yes.

Just what do you do with old books that were integral to your teenage life and formative years?

Will I take them if I do move house in the future? I’m not sure. But the very thought of giving them away and putting them into the hands of someone else fills me with anguish.

If I were to apply Marie Kondo’s logic to these — it would say that “these books have already served its purpose in your life and it’s now time to pass it on to someone else who needs those items”.

Marie Kondo — the woman single-handedly responsible for thousands of people frantically throwing out things from their houses this January (Source)

That makes sense logically.

But it’s ridiculously challenging to put into practice.

Yes yes, I know that you don’t need to apply everything and follow the decluttering method blindly. This is an era that I know I will be getting rid of eventually, but I can’t seem to follow through on this.

Maybe it’s not the time yet.

Perhaps, I shall continue to sit and admire the titles gathering dust on my shelves.

But eventually, when the time comes, I know it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to these beloved D&D books.