While I probably do need to be better at letter go of things like slights or bad moods, I really meant getting rid of material things. It's a bit of an up and down thing with me. I still get excited about new music and particularly books, and I am trying to at least make sure the inflow is less than the outflow. Usually if I can wait over a week on buying a book or CD, then the temptation passes. If it is something that keeps calling to me, then I will occasionally give in. I will say (and probably have in the past) that the high shipping costs to Canada, particularly from US sellers) has been a useful tool in making me twice or thrice about purchasing anything. I suppose I am glad that I compiled my stockpile of things in the era of cheap shipping. Of course, for the Millenials and Gen Z they won't want material objects hardly at all and will have digital versions of just about everything. It's probably just as well, since if they live in the city, they will be in small studio apartments for much of their lives.
I actually finally turned up an important box with quite a few missing objects, such as the Blu-Ray of La Vita Dolce and a couple of box sets, including one that I am quite sure I've never played. I managed to reunite a few CDs with their cases, and I think I am down to only missing Herbie Hancock's Secrets, Zoot Sims Goes to Jazzville, an Art Pepper CD, and Mendelssohn's Octet (the last would have been something I was playing just before the last move and is probably in a stack of random data DVDs, but I will keep my eye out for it).* I turned up a few more books I was looking for, though there isn't much to do with them, as all the bookcases are full. Anyway, the most important thing was I turned up my diplomas, as I actually needed them, believe it or not. So there is a long way to go until order is fully restored downstairs, but I was pleased at finding these things. In a few cases, now that I have reunited the CDs, I can sell them off (for close to nothing of course).
I had basically given up, but I called the owner of a used classical/jazz store and she was willing to take a look at a bunch of classical box sets. I'm holding off on the really valuable stuff, trying to sell it on Amazon, but I had some good mid-line sets, and she took them all, though she is really preferring to buy and sell jazz these days. I'll try to get one more batch to her next week, but then she'll probably be back in the same cashflow problem that derailed all my previous attempts to sell to her. Still, I was quite happy to clear out a few things from my office.
Finally, I donated a large box of urban books to York University. When the woman picked them up, she asked if I was retiring. Oof. I know I am not in the best shape these days, but still... I suppose I have retired my dream of teaching urban studies. I said if all goes well, there would be a second, though smaller, donation in April. I'm also steadily donating books to the public library at a rate of 2 or 3 a month, so slow and steady progress I suppose.
* Actually, Amazon just reminded me that I bought a Brahms Double Concerto CD (Ormandy conducting) that I had shipped to my cousin in Wisconsin and eventually retrieved last summer. It is probably in one of the last boxes we packed up of random stuff. But I will eventually find it. Eventually...
Edit (3/6) This is too droll. The Toronto Public Library, which often doesn't even let its novels circulate, has a physical copy of the Brahms Double Concerto. (It is lending this, even though the CD is OOP.) So my ingenious plan is to borrow the copy from the library, and as soon as I get it home, my copy will turn up (on the same basic principle that you find something as soon as you no longer need it).
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