Giving away books, simplifying and feeling less flooded as an HSP.

Maybe, this has to do with the stage of the pandemic we’re in. But lately, I have been getting very overwhelmed with visual input.

Even as a sensitive person who processes everything deeply, I have never quite felt like this. So, as an antidote to this feeling of being flooded, I have been decluttering and giving away things.

While the rest of my home is pretty organized, the one area that gets consistently out of order is my books. So, I have been doing the tough task of simplifying them.

It feels really wrong to think of my books as “clutter,” so I am trying to think of how I am curating them, not decluttering. After all, what good is a book if I can’t find it under a huge pile?

Here are some thoughts on curating books (This also applies to anything that feels special to you!)

1. My “Aspirational Self” Books: It felt really hard to go through them, but I started with the easy ones first. Some of the books I gave away were identity-related. One of them was a book about arranging flowers that I bought early on in my married life. It had appealed to the creative in me. OF COURSE, I thought, I was going to be someone who not only cooked delicious meals, but also did beautiful flower arrangements and updated their decor seasonally. But while I do cook delicious meals, I am more the kind of person who quickly throws in some store-bought flowers into a vase when I need some beauty.
2. Simplicity feels like a sacrifice: I think it feels like a sacrifice because, on some level, it is. Even sacrificing a fantasy self feels painful. I am never going to be a flower-arranging wonder-woman. Or someone who updates their entire home decor as the seasons change. That does make me feel a bit sad.
3. Simplicity brings real gains: Since the opposite of a great truth is also true, it’s also true that simplicity also brings real benefits. I really like the simplified wardrobe I’ve had now for years. It feels so manageable, and even when it gets messy, it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Having “less inventory” gives me a feeling of confidence. I’m hoping it will do the same with my books.
4. Having fewer physical books won’t make me any less of a book-lover: All it means is that I am making a choice to keep the books I will read sooner rather than later. I will still let myself buy ebooks and even physical books when I want to. I will just keep the container concept by Dana K. White in mind as I do this. It’s funny how having things gets tied in with our identity. Also, I am still going to have way more books than most people do.
5. Everyone has a different clutter threshold: I can only engage with a certain amount of things regularly. I don’t think there’s a certain “right amount” of things that’s right for everyone. Some people can engage with lots of things. Some want to live minimally. I like simple abundance.

It’s been really interesting as I go through this process. It’s brought up lots of difficult feelings. I have felt sadness and fear and even something akin to grief as I look at all the time I spent and all the things I collected only to now give them away.

But it’s also felt freeing in some moments.

It’s definitely making me feel more decisive and less overstimulated by all the input in my home.

As people whose nervous systems are wired to process things deeply, sometimes, reducing input is really helpful. Especially nowadays, when the world outside seems to be going crazy, it feels more and more important to make a soothing container out of our physical space.

It’s one thing we can control, and one thing that does make a concrete difference.