--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Packing up one's stuff is debilitating. You learn > very quickly how much of your stuff owns you, as > opposed to vice-versa. I've got eight boxes of books > just on the Cathars and medieval stuff! Teaches one > a bit about attachment. >
It may be teaching, but you don't seem to be learning. Like one of my favorite 11th century BC saint / poets said (and still says in his rainbow body) " You can led a horse to water but the old dog doesn't learn new tricks" > On the other hand, you run across things that you > are *done with*, no longer attached to. DVDs you > watched once and that was enough. Books you *know* > you'll never open again. LPs that are Department Of > Redundancy Dept. because you gave away your turntable. Holy chains of deep and eternal attachment batman! LPs!!!!! > Clothes that you wouldn't wear again even to cart > trash to the dumpster. Canned foods you bought two > of, and one was more than enough, thank you. Candles > that are partly burned down, but still have a few > hours of life in them. Those sorts of things. > > In Sauve, we have enlightened recycling. You don't > have to cart your stuff to the Salvation Army (although > it does exist in France) or to the local Good Will or > whatever. You just take your stuff and put it on the > 12th-century stone ledge outside Fouzia's épicerie > and then, if you're feeling like it (and I was today), > you sit in the Micoccoulier and have un petit sauvin > (white wine with fresh ginger syrup) and watch *as* > your former loved ones transit through the Bardo and > into new incarnations. > > You watch as people look through the books and take the > ones they want. You watch as some 15-year-old film fan > discovers the stack of glossy French film magazines and > runs off with them as if his whole day (and possibly the > next few weeks reading them) has been *made*. You watch > folks "try on" the clothes, holding them up against > their shoulders as they would in a vide grenier (literally > "empty your attics") or marché, and if they seem to fit, > walking away with them. You watch the local vinyl freaks > just *drool* over the rare Telefunken classical records. > You sit and watch and sip your petit sauvin, and life > is *good*, man. > > Well, some sell them. And I guess that's cool; I've sold > off more than my share of old stuff I don't need any more. > And the buyers were grateful for the bargains they got, > so I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with > that, especially for those who are used to paying for > things, and don't trust anything that comes to them for > free. > > > > > I'm sorry -- I know that a lot of people here disagree with > me, and they may be right in doing so, but selling the stuff > to them them still strikes me as a little tacky. It's just > so much more FUN to give it away...and then *walk* away. Sounds that way -- but the underbelly of doing so is not as pretty, IME. I found giving away a lot of my books (and I have gotten rid of all 500 plus ones) and CDS (probably 500 there two) that finding an appreciative audience for such rare gems was a challenge. Sort of a (perceived) pearl before swine syndrome. I doubt that too many in Suave -- and the few walking that day by the ledge, would really appreciate some of the gems I had collected. I gave to friends, but often my impassioned descriptions of how great this book or CD was, it was of only of polite interest to them. I gave boxes of books to my libratry (the central library of a large city) imagining my books being of great light to many for generations to come -- sitting on those shelves, waiting for seeks so they could "spread their pages". But within several weeks, I saw them ll "for sale" for pennies at the library annual book sale (which I soon figured out was "annual sale of all our donated books, because our shelves are full you idiots donors") I did send boxes of books on Jyotish and hindoo stuff to a hindu temple -- and they seemed to appreciate it -- but who knows. More polite response perhaps. In contract, I found a huge sea of seekers, who self-selected and qualified them selves as being really interested in my stuff. On Amazon Used Books and Used CD sales section I am sure there are more now. EBay -- less good for this purpose). Some people even were willing to pay me more for books than I had paid for them -- though that was towards the tail of the distribution (no Curtis, thats different from chasing tail, and both are different from chasing the dragon.) Willingness to pay tells me the person really is interested and values the book. And the Amazon site reaches far more possible "great fits for my books" than a ledge in my town or yours. If someone in a small town sees a free book on a ledge, a natural thing would be to say "why not". My experience with such, both on the donor and taker side is that the book soon finds its way to the trash bin. > I guess this rap boils down to an extended answer to Marek's > wonderful question recently. What (and, unspoken but implied, > *how*) would you teach. I think I'd just give it all away, > and walk away after the giving. If people find a use for > some of the things I've given away, cool. If they don't, and > end up giving them away to someone else, even cooler. > So you gave it all away? Or still thinking about it?
