I noticed that one of my neighbors still has their Christmas tree up. Christmas tree, as we approach the end of January. Why not, I thought. It should be Christmas all year long.
 
Not really motivate by that, but by the time to move things along, I donated approximately two thousand of my LP record collection today and I’m set up to donate about a thousand of my CDs tomorrow.
 
It actually took a long while to go through them all. It pretty much kind of killed two of my days.
 
When I dropped them off at one of my local Goodwill’s this morning, two of the staff members were in awh of the albums I was donating. “Look at this! Look at that! I remember them. I loved this song!” “Take it,” I said. “Keep it for yourself.” “We can’t,” she exclaimed.
 
After I dropped off the LPs, (the CDs to be done tomorrow), I texted by lady and told her how I had filled two of the large bins at Goodwill. “You know, you’ve given away thousands of dollars,” she texted back. “Isn’t that what giving is all about,” was my return text.
 
I’m sure someone will find and love those albums, at which ever store they end up.
 
Did it hurt to give them aways? I don’t know, that’s kind of a weird question/feeling, I asked myself? The fact is/was, those were all records that I hadn’t played in years and probably never will again. Isn’t it better to get that kind of stuff out there in the wind? Let it be a possession and an inspiration of someone who really loves it?
 
Yeah, it took me years and a lot of time and massive amounts of money to collect those albums and those CDs. But, pretty much everything is now streamable. It’s not like the days of my younger years where you would hear a song on the radio, (or somewhere), and then you would have to search and search until you could find in on vinyl to listen to it over and over and over again. Now, even the very-very-very obscure stuff, if you know where to look, you can find it. So, it’s all still available. Haveable without taking up a lot of space.
 
I’ve known a few hoarders in my life. And man, their life just becomes a mess at one point or another. Yeah, they all have a reason for collecting whatever it is they collect. But, at the end of the day, if you ain’t usein’ it, you ain’t usein’. It means nothing to no one. It just takes up space, and I just can’t believe that is a good and right and pure thing to do. Stop lying to yourself and clean up! Get the stuff out there to someone who can appreciate it!
 
Anyway, that’s my life story for the day. And, that’s my advice to all you hoarders/collectors out there. Free yourself. Give it to someone who can/will actually use it. Make it Christmas to someone everyday.