Getting rid of "pieces" of a collection (books, CDs, dolls, etc.)

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Getting rid of "pieces" of a collection (books, CDs, dolls, etc.)

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Started 5 months ago by themusiclivez
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themusiclivez
Member

I was wondering if any of you experienced this. I used to have a huge CD collection and just the other day I was going through some more CDs and realized that while I tended to have multiple albums by the same artists, I did not actually LIKE a good portion of those albums.

But I kept them because I felt guilty "breaking up" my collection. I held on to albums I would never listen to. I finally decided that had to stop.

Have any of you felt this type of guilt? It could be with breaking up a collection of books by a favorite author and getting rid of titles you didn't enjoy, etc. It's actually very freeing when you give yourself permission to get rid of the items you don't like!

Posted 5 months ago #
Rosa
Member

Yes, I know have about half of a couple of paperback series, and I got rid of all the less-loved albums from my favorite artists. I didn't so much have guilt as sunk-cost regret, I think. But it is GREAT having them gone.

Posted 5 months ago #
herisff
Member

Oh yes, I know this one well. My bookshelves were full of them! But over time I got over it, and can now happily break up series and keep only the ones I truly enjoy.

Posted 5 months ago #
Irulan
Member

I experienced something similar with books. It was freeing to remember that I could take the other ones out of the library if I got the urge to re-read the entire series in sequential order.

Posted 5 months ago #
Ella
Member

I like to think of it as refining my collection by paring down to the "best of." That's subjective, of course, and others won't necessarily agree on my "best of" choices. But after all, it's MY collection.

Posted 5 months ago #
Ginger
Member

I just finished this yesterday, actually! I picked out my absolute favorite doll and sold the others. Yesterday I mailed out the last one I wanted to get rid of. Now I own simply one (plus two childhood ones which are in a sentimental box). It's not a collection anymore though, haha.

I get over-stimulated very easily so with less to clutter me up, I can direct all my focus on my favorite and get more enjoyment without being overwhelmed.

It seems kind of extreme getting rid of all but one, but I had this planned out for a long time so it wasn't rash lol! I even kept them boxed away for months and realized that I didn't miss them at all. Plus, I had no place to display them all! The extra money was nice too. =)

Posted 5 months ago #
chacha1
Member

I have had regretful twinges bordering on appendicitis when breaking up book collections. Once or twice I have gotten rid of an ENTIRE collection rather than try to choose "just one to keep."

Music has been easier because I can save those three or four tracks that I really like, and just squirrel the disc away out of sight/mind.

And recently books have become much easier, because so many are now available for Kindle. Except when they're not, and in those cases I am just holding the collections until I am well and truly done with them.

I pared a couple of small collections with great success. Generally, the things that I got for myself or that were one-of-a-kind have stayed; the things that other people got for me just because they knew I had the collection have gone.

Posted 5 months ago #
pkilmain
Member

Hmmm, I was going to claim that I have no collections, but, it appears that I do. I have several series of books and still a larger-than-necessary collection of stuffed bears (and where or where is Jbeany these days??). The problem with the books is that the early books of the series are no longer available at the library, and some not on Kindle either. I am not out of bookcase space - yet! I have selected a few bears to get donated, and have moved a few others around to see if I still feel attached to them. And like chacha, the ones that stay are those I've bought for myself (or picked out for someone else to give me). I do have a lot of CDs still but I'm ruthlessly going through those and selecting the tracks I want and actually listen to.

Posted 5 months ago #
Another Deb
Member

I have been collecting an author and recently decided to only get the new works in digital format. The older ones, I will read once more, then sell. The more recent ones, I have already sold since they bring a good price right after publication and it will be a LONG time until I will want to read them again. Or, if I do, I'll get the digital version. Lots less to dust in the meantime.

Posted 5 months ago #
lucy1965
Member

I had to have all of the Nigella Lawson cookbooks -- and then I realized that with two exceptions, I only cooked three or four things, if that, out of each of the books. After a lot of dithering, I scanned the ones I liked, dropped 'em into Evernote and gave the books to the library. My copy of Nigella Bites is stained, written in and worn; I went digital with How To Eat, which I read for the essays and not the recipes: as my diet is increasingly vegetarian, I look at the ingredients list for most of them and think "It's basically slab o' critter -- oh, and some veg over here".

Posted 5 months ago #
themusiclivez
Member

@Ginger I get over-stimulated by clutter as well and for some reason all of these unplayed CDs scream for my attention, "Listen to me! You never listen to me!" Now that I am getting rid of them I feel better. They won't scream for my attention anymore!

As far as books go I actually don't have a lot even though I love to read. I tend to know right after finishing a book if it is one I am going to want to read again. Therefore I have only collected two seperate series of books. I keep a few others that I know I will go back to. I have been trying to borrow books from friends or get books used at library fairs so I don't feel guilty about getting rid of them after. (I really hate taking books out of the library. I always end up with a book that smells like feet or has some mysterious brown substance on its pages. Freaks me out.).

Posted 5 months ago #
Sky
Member

I was collecting all the books of my favorite author but some of the oldest ones are rare and expensive so I decided to just keep my favorites and sold the rest. I don't miss them.

I think the fun was in the search.

Posted 5 months ago #
themusiclivez
Member

@Sky - You're absolutely right! I had more fun searching and finding the rare CDs I used to collect. Then when it became too expensive, and I had most of the ones I "needed", it got boring.

Posted 5 months ago #
writing all the time
Member

YES! Oh, the book remorse, it's a drear and dire thing to live through.

However, I did actually live through getting rid of mountains of paperbacks and worn out hardbacks that I will not read again. Nor would I lend them to anyone because they were in such awful shape.

Bah. I use my library a lot. I don't buy entertainment type reading material anymore, and I only buy work/professional reading material if I think it's a great investment for me.

There are not enough board feet of shelving in my county to hold all the books I've devoured. I read voraciously, anywhere from 3 books/week and up. I don't want all those paper/glue dust mites living in my home.

Posted 5 months ago #
Parsifal
Member

I'm the same way about books. However, I've come to realize that if I don't already have and treasure the whole series (assuming it's a finished one) then it's unlikely I ever will. If I really only liked the first book of a series, I'll keep that and donate the rest of the partial set to charity.

Posted 5 months ago #
Kees Reuzelaar
Member

I had about a thousand CD's that were all Very Important to me. Once mp3-players got popular I ripped every CD to mp3, because having all my music with me was Very Important to me.

Until I realised I never actually listened to the older music! Since then I got rid of all the disks (sold some, gave away most to a youth center) and deleted the mp3's. Yes, it was hard to delete them, mentally, but afterwards it still feels very good.

I've also paired down my book collection to one book case. Now it's strictly one-in-one-out. It's no longer about quantity but about quality. Who needs a huge personal library full of books that are just there to gather dust?

Posted 5 months ago #
themusiclivez
Member

@Kees Reuzelaar I did the same thing - I transferred all of that music to my iPod only to realize I didn't listen to the majority of it. Now I delete it from my iPod and get rid of the CDs. It's funny how what is "Very Important", like you said, changes over time!

Posted 4 months ago #

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