Operation: Zacchaeus

"But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." -Luke 19:8

So, I have been wanting to purge my possessions for a long time. And now seems like the perfect time to do it. (Or, you know, maybe months or years ago would have been good too...)

I have all of these college text books that I don't really want or need. And since it has been a while, they are not really worth anything. I've had them listed on half.com for a while, with no luck. So, I scrounged the internet looking for some organization that may find use for them. I stumbled upon an organization in Pittsburgh called Book 'Em. It's an organization that accepts book donations and then receives requests from prison inmates to give them materials that they want to read, whether for educational/vocational purposes, or mere enjoyment.
After reading about the program, I wasn't really sure if they would find use for my text books. But I figured it was worth sending them an email to find out. They told me that they could definitely use them though! So, next Sunday, I am going to take a box full of textbooks, etc. that I no longer need or want. Liberation.

I am going to get rid of most of my CDs. Now, with the invention of iTunes and backup hard drives, I see little use for the physical discs. I am thinking of asking my library if they could use them (as I scanned their CD wall today, and found it rather pitiful). If not, I am just going to take the box to The Exchange or some used music store. I don't think I'll get too much money for them, but the act of letting them all go will be cathartic. I am really trying to simplify my life here. haha

I need to go through my clothes and get rid of anything I don't want/need/wear anymore.
I need to sell some electronic equipment that has been lying around with no use. (dvd players, alarm clocks, etc.)
I need to get rid of a bunch of VHS tapes, maybe some DVDs.

It is difficult to do this though. Not so much because of the fact that I'll be parting with this stuff.... but mostly because there is so much of it, that I don't really want to go through it all. haha. Pitiful.

I remember when I was in Spain for the semester, I thought to myself how little I really needed there. Everything that I needed for 4 months of my life was able to be packed into 2 suitcases, and even then, I surely brought home things that I didn't really need. I thought, "If I can go 4 months without thinking about any of my stuff, I surely don't need it." But when I came back, I never did anything about it.

So I suppose now is as good a time as ever. I'll get rid of it before I go. I won't feel weighed down by it. And when I come home, I'll have a fresh start.