It's remarkable how much a simple thing like a bookshelf can enrich your life.
Longtime readers of my column or those who have met me in person know I have a lifelong love affair with reading. Nothing made me more happy as a kid than picking up a new book from Chapters or the local library in Edmonton. Over the years I collected quite the small library of books in my room which stayed there for years after I moved out to first college and later to B.C. for work.
That changed, however, this fall while I was visiting my family after my trip to Mexico. My parents made it very clear they wanted to declutter and tasked me with sorting through my old library for the books I wanted to keep and those that needed to be donated to Goodwill. It took a couple of hours but it was a task I did, returning to 100 Mile House with three boxes of books in my trunk.
However, this only contributed to a problem that's been developing for a while now in my house: no more shelf space. My trusty bookshelf, which doubles as a stand for my TV, was overloaded to the point I had begun to stack books beside it on the wall. Such a state of affairs couldn't last for long.
Last month I decided to finally purchase a new bookshelf and assemble it, piece by piece, by hand. I was surprised at how soothing and rewarding such a simple task was as I fit the shelves together and screwed them tight. Granted, it was far from cutting down a free and hand-crafting my own bookshelf from the raw log, but there was something satisfying about putting it all together.
Once it was complete I was finally able to place around 30 odd books, new and old, on its shelves. Sitting back and looking at it made me feel not only accomplished but also happy. For the first time in months, all my books were nearly ordered and off the floor for easy access. Even brought me back to the days back home when I had two bookshelves, one large and one small.
It's a similar feeling I get when I give my home a good proper clean. There is something nice about just taking the time to tidy up and making your living space more comfortable and well, homely. It makes you feel good and accomplished to take charge of one little part of your life and make it better.
Of course, the problem now is that this bookshelf COULD hold more books. Wouldn't want to waste the space, after all, would we?
