My teaching books are a record of who I was, my travel books reflect some of the places I have visited and loved, and my books about the natural world reflect some of my passions. Then there are many others. My books are a small snapshot of who I am. To give them away might be like losing a piece of the essence of me. Although, I do give…
My teaching books are a record of who I was, my travel books reflect some of the places I have visited and loved, and my books about the natural world reflect some of my passions. Then there are many others. My books are a small snapshot of who I am. To give them away might be like losing a piece of the essence of me. Although, I do give some away, and I hereby vow to do that more often. They are also a kind of To Do list. Someday, when I am old and have no interest in traveling, biking, hiking, kayaking, or gardening, I may finish reading them.
I have this same experience with my teaching books. The vast majority of them I'll never use again, but I can't bear to lose them because of what they represent in terms of the journey. Most of them are actually in a closet, out of sight because I had nowhere to put them when I moved out of my campus office.
Yes, the books are artifacts from our journey. As I think more about this, I wonder if there are only certain types of people who feel this attachment to books, and if so, what is the profile of this type of person?
My teaching books are a record of who I was, my travel books reflect some of the places I have visited and loved, and my books about the natural world reflect some of my passions. Then there are many others. My books are a small snapshot of who I am. To give them away might be like losing a piece of the essence of me. Although, I do give some away, and I hereby vow to do that more often. They are also a kind of To Do list. Someday, when I am old and have no interest in traveling, biking, hiking, kayaking, or gardening, I may finish reading them.
I have this same experience with my teaching books. The vast majority of them I'll never use again, but I can't bear to lose them because of what they represent in terms of the journey. Most of them are actually in a closet, out of sight because I had nowhere to put them when I moved out of my campus office.
Yes, the books are artifacts from our journey. As I think more about this, I wonder if there are only certain types of people who feel this attachment to books, and if so, what is the profile of this type of person?